Open letter from the Association on the cancellation of part-time jobs at the Slovácká Theatre

The Association of Professional Theaters sent an open letter to the mayor of Uherské Hradiště expressing concern over reports of a drastic reduction in the number of members of the artistic ensemble of the Slovácko Theater.

Dear Mr. Mayor,

We appreciate the long-term support and care that Uherské Hradiště, and you personally, give to the Slovácko Theatre. We are aware of how demanding the operation of a professional theatre scene is, especially in the current situation. However, we are concerned by the news about a drastic reduction in the number of members of the Slovácko Theatre's artistic ensemble. This publicly published information contains contradictions that deserve explanation.

Uherské Hradiště as the founder of the theatre will not reduce the amount of the contribution for this year. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Association of Professional Theatres, the Ministry of Culture and theatre founders, the Programme for the Support of Professional Theatres and Symphonic Orchestras and Choirs, which systematically addresses the state's participation in the operation of regional theatres, has been significantly increased in recent years. The volume of funds increased from approximately CZK 91 million in 2016 to CZK 464 million, including CZK 190 million in the rescue package in 2020. This year there was another significant increase (to a total of CZK 700 million), thanks to a parliamentary proposal that you personally, as a member of parliament, supported during the discussion in the Chamber of Deputies. Of course, the Slovácké Theatre will also benefit from the increase in the state programme this year. Due to the lack of data for last year, the program will be distributed according to the results of 2019, and it can therefore be estimated that state support for the Slovácko Theatre may be close to ten million crowns. We believe that this positive trend will be maintained in the coming years, when the entire theatre network will deal with the consequences of the pandemic. A significant contribution to the Slovácko Theatre's budget should therefore be ensured.

However, a fundamental condition for entering the state support program is the employment of artistic workers. This is, for example, the reason why the Šumperk Theater, which you mentioned in the media, has not been able to benefit from the program so far.

It is of course the right of every director and artistic director to make personnel changes and shape the theatre and the artistic ensemble according to the adopted concept. Given the above, however, we are concerned that this is a hasty and difficult-to-repair step, which could ultimately lead to the gradual limitation of operations and the liquidation of one of the most successful regional theatres, which is based on the tradition of continuous work of the artistic ensemble with a rich repertoire and an intensive relationship with the audience base, which forms one of the exemplary subscription systems in the Czech Republic. We are seriously concerned about your successful theatre. Is it really necessary to reduce the number of working hours in the artistic ensemble? Does the city approach the reduction of employees in other contributory organisations of the city in a similar way?

Dear Mr. Mayor,

We agree with you that the Czech Republic lacks a cooperative financing system. We are convinced that the consequences of the current crisis would be much better overcome if we had a legislative instrument in the form of a new legal form for operating theaters - a Public Cultural Institution, the adoption of which we have been promoting for a long time. Its main principles include, for example, the joint establishment of cultural institutions by multiple founders (city, region, state) and multi-year cooperative financing, which would now, for example, allow for better compensation of losses over a longer period of time and across multiple founders. We believe that it is our common task to strive for systematic legislative changes that are intended to help especially in problematic periods. Some partial decisions may be irreversible in the long term.

We are convinced that culture, and theater in particular, can play an important and irreplaceable role in the recovery of society after the pandemic. However, it must survive in good moral, economic, and artistic condition.

With respect and faith that something can still be saved.

MgA. Stanislav Moša, vr.

Chairman of the APD of the Czech Republic and Director of the Brno Municipal Theatre