Is this just local or .....?

I suspect amateur theatre experiences the same problems that any community association does. For example, local football clubs seem to have a tireless, but overworked core who do everything year after year, while players come and go. This core, like the core that exists in an amateur theatre group, wishes it would be otherwise; that more would hang around so the load could be spread around a bit. But it never happens. This is not a new phenomenum, because it always seems to have been this way. However, I expect that over the last couple of decades it has become more severe; there are so many other pursuits that keep people away (Wii, playstations, computer games, facebook spring to mind). The vicarious thrill of watching Australian Idol seems to be more compulsive than actually performing yourself. Attracting new young blood becomes more difficult. But attracting (or retaining) 'old blood' is just as problematic. Partly this is related to demographics (with an aging population, the old stagers are 'retiring', and there aren't the people to take their places). Partly this is related to the legislative environment. With an increasingly risk-averse society, and its consequence, a requirement to comply with the bureaucratic framework that surrounds amateur activities, what would once be regarded as a pleasant hobby is becoming as onerous as a demanding job, and people are less willing to do both. An illustration: For many years Huon Valley Theatre has been part of the old "Adopt a Highway" program, and each year HVT members worked along a particular stretch of road and picked up rubbish. These days, this can't be done unless qualified people are there to put up road signs, qualified people are there to supervise the clean-up, we sign forms saying that we accept the risk, we operate only on the side of the road facing oncoming traffic, we must wear long sleeves . . . and so on . . . you get the picture. This means that what was done once for fun and for community spirit is now a bureaucratic chore . . . and the appeal, the interest and the pleasure is gone. Someone said to me, "you can forget about global financial crisis, you can forget about global warming. What's killing this country is OHAS compliance." However, HVT still prospers. We recognise the threats to HVT viability, and deal with them as best as we can. But importantly, we are working hard to make our presence felt within the community, involving ourselves in as many community activities as we can manage. We hope by doing this that we will continue to secure our lifeblood: participants and patrons, despite the other attractions that might lure them away from theatre. In the past, we could easily have been regarded as 'elitist' or 'exclusive' (whether those tags were justified or not). We hope that we are becoming overtly more inclusive and accessible.