The Abbey Theatre on several occasions has been in the throes of some crisis or another. Finding itself having to deal with what is potentially one of the most serious in a year that was marked for a jubilant centenary celebration, however, is a major and shameful situation.
The much-debated uncertainty about the future location of a new premises could become a minor issue in the context of the latest threat to its stability. The announcement of the need to reduce staff numbers by almost a third indicates the gravity of this latest crisis.
While a serious deterioration in its finances is obviously at the root of the current situation - and the Abbey would do well to be up front about the figures rather than adopting a non-communicative attitude - there are other fundamental issues at stake that revolve around management and structure. There are those who question the role and need for a National Theatre in its present form, seeing it as an outdated concept that consumes far too much of the public purse that is available for the arts.
There are some, in fact, who would happily dismantle the National Theatre to facilitate a wider distribution of those funds. But such arbitrary thinking fails to recognise the role and importance of a National Theatre. Of course the theatre itself has to put its house in order, but the State has to face up to the fact that if we want a National Theatre we have to pay for it through the provision of adequate funding, particularly to allow it to respond to the frequent demand that it must be seen by audiences outside of Dublin.
Whatever solution emerges to resolve the latest crisis remains to be seen; what is certain is that the process of replacing the current Artistic Director and CEO, Ben Barnes, is likely to begin very shortly. Is it not time to move from the appointment yet again of a drama director who has to concern him or herself with a hands-on involvement each season to placing the running of the theatre in the hands of someone whose primary skills are those of a producer/manager? This is not incompatible with an adventurous artistic programme.
Questions have to be raised as to why the theatre's board allowed the financial deficit to accrue to the extent that it has without any effective intervention. Why, too, was a costly programme of productions and events for this year's anniversary commissioned and announced before adequate funding was securely in place. When the theatre was established part of the original premises was a defunct morgue. Our National Theatre must not be allowed to revert to that moribund condition.