Abbey Centenary: The Abbey Theatre celebrated its centenary year in 2004, but spent much of it mired in controversy, as a mounting financial deficit was compounded by crisis at management level.
First indications of problems with the financing of the ambitious artistic programme of the theatre's artistic director, Ben Barnes, came in June with the postponement of two of its productions, due to what Abbey staff variously described as "financial" and "logistical" concerns.
By September Abbey management admitted the theatre faced a deficit of €1.5 million which was predicted, by the year's end, to grow to €2.5 million. The shortfall was further aggravated by the failure of a special committee to raise the €3.4 million necessary to back Barnes's artistic programme for the year. Box office figures for the first half of 2004 at the Abbey were uniformly poor, with only one production, The Shaughraun - directed by board member and chair of the fundraising committee John McColgan - exceeding the hoped-for average of 50 per cent box office sales.
Following an emergency meeting between management and staff, it was announced that one-third of the Abbey's 91 contract and permanent jobs were to go over an 18-month period. The proposals were rejected by SIPTU members at the Abbey, who sought negotiations with management on a restructuring.
Meanwhile, shareholding council members of the theatre reacted angrily to the developments when through the Abbey's National Theatre Society they put forward a motion of no confidence against Barnes. The vote was adjourned until Barnes, then touring in Australia with an Abbey production, could return.
At the resumed meeting, he successfully defeated the motion and the proposed restructuring plan was frozen pending the results of a four-week consultation period involving a working group made up of staff and union representatives. Tensions over the manner in which the restructuring plans had been announced was evidenced by an e-mail sent by Barnes to 33 major international directors and producers in which he strongly criticised the board's handling of events and claimed he had been made a "scapegoat". Two days later, at an emergency meeting of board members, Barnes apologised for his comments.
The consultative group published its report in October, recommending the reversion of staff numbers to the level that existed prior to the launch of the centenary programme. The recruitment drive for the successor to Barnes, whose contract expires at the end of 2005, began shortly afterwards, with advertisements for the post of director (rather than artistic director, the title Barnes currently holds) appearing in the national and international press. Other recent developments included the announcement of two significant cash injections to the beleaguered theatre: a €500,000 donation to the centenary fund from the Irish-American philanthropists Lewis and Loretta Brennan Glucksman (the latter is a board member), and a €2 million grant from the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.
Belinda McKeon