The Misery in Groningen is a bit bigger than we thought. Meanwhile, the Grand Theatre appears to be at least 250,000 in the red. And counting. Money that the theatre subsidised by the city of Groningen owes mainly to artists. Choreographer Dunja Djocic, for instance, had received €90,000 in subsidies to create performances at the Grand for two years. Theatre-maker Andreas Denk had deposited 55,000 euros of subsidy at the theatre for one year. This total of 145,000 euros of money for creators disappeared in the financial chaos that the Grand has become under departed director Paul S.
The Performing Arts Fund, which had awarded the grant to these two creators, informs that they can finish their work elsewhere. This means that they, and their collaborators, are no longer at risk of personal bankruptcy. However, the Fund must now draw the 145,000 euros itself from its own reserves.
"We have never experienced this before, and hope never to have to experience it again," a spokesperson for the Fund tells us when asked. Less fortunate are groups like Touki Delphine and Wunderbaum, who worked with the Grand Theatre in Groningen last year. They simply have to join the back of the queue of creditors that is now starting to grow nicely. Just like people who had their own agreements, up to indeed amounts of 20,000 euros for a small independent theatre technician.
We can now say that the financial dealings under the responsibility of director S are beginning to look a little suspect. When he took office, the Grand's financial reserve was still 250,000 euros. According to the official records, 80,000 euros was dipped into that twice during his reign. So, at the beginning of 2014, there was officially only 80,000 euros in cash. That there is now a deficit of at least 250,000 euros could mean that the director went loopy on the bank account in 2014, or that he presented the earlier losses rosier than they were.
In that case, the Grand Theatre's Supervisory Board would be somewhat exonerated. If so, it could just be that the Council could not have discovered earlier than this year that the financial shit had hit all the proverbial vents, and that the woes only really became apparent after Director S's departure. So says one of those involved: "I understood that some people felt wetness before but all of a sudden it happened really fast, not paying out and all that..."
Incidentally, the reason I can no longer write director S's name in full is to prevent Google from removing our articles from search results. Indeed, anyone searching online for Paul S will discover that he has successfully invoked the European 'forget me' scheme, which allows individuals to have their accidental postings removed from Google. This is also why there is hardly any research into S's work at Utrecht-based youth theatre company Het Filiaal. Smelt's successor at that successful Youth Theatre Company only let it be known that "at least no financial corpses appeared in the cupboard", and that the forced departure of the business director was mainly personal. The director then briefly ran a restaurant.
This time, the director was given half a year's salary when he left. The question is whether that was paid in one lump sum, or whether the director is now also one of the creditors himself. Of course, the question is even more: why did the Supervisory Board buy this man off in the first place? What arguments did he have to get them to do so? That remains unknown for now.
Perhaps something to bear in mind for those who have the crowdfunding want to support those set up in Groningen to preserve the Grand.
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