The Demise of Hayman Theatre at Curtin Uni

Hi Peoples,

With the recent announcement that Curtin Uni will be cutting the number of courses it will run by over 300, it seems the Hayman Theatre is about to be a casualty.

The following was posted by Tony Nicholls on an online forum run by Hayman students:

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IÂ’m sorry to say that this course is now under serious threat of closure.

Curtin recently changed the way funding is distributed to the various Divisions. Teaching areas are now expected to pay for the space they use. In most cases this makes little difference but the Hayman Theatre is a large space to which we have exclusive access. The annual ‘rent’ has been calculated by the university as about $200,000 per year.

The Division of Humanities and our Faculty of MSC are both considerably in deficit already. Closing the Hayman, as you can see, is from that point, an attractive and some would say, necessary choice.

My view is that without a theatre there can be no worthwhile theatre course.

We shall obviously be making every effort to find an alternative solution but as high school students will very soon be making their applications to university courses a final decision must be made within a very few weeks about the continuance of Performance Studies.

The Guild has been informed of the situation.

I believe the university has an obligation to allow students currently enrolled to complete their course.

There is considerable goodwill towards PS within the Division for many reasons not least of which is the contribution theatre students have made to the cultural life of the campus. However we now appear to have moved to a rather less than brave new world in which our leaders cannot distinguish between value and price.

TONY NICHOLLS
22/6/05


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Would love to hear the thoughts of any ex-Haymanites out there or from any patrons who have come to a Hayman performance, on the demise of this course.

Perth's theatrical and cultural landscape will suffer as a result of the closure of this course. Hayman Theatre has been a testing ground for new writers, directors, performers and tehcnical crews who have gone on to successful careers in the local, national and international theatre industry.

Without the Hayman Theatre, the ladder to a professional career in theatre arts has just become longer.


Crispy.