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As part of our theatre circuit, Past Masters have the possibility of visiting the Kirk Theatre at Pickering.
Does anyone here know if it's a good proposition - or not ?

No good words so looks like we'll swerve this one.

We played with Ian Harper's people at another Pickering Theatre, Dave. I don't know this one but Ian might.

I was looking for some idea of whether or not a 50s& 60s show would be supported in the area from folks who live nearby.
I know that in the summer months that it's a healthy tourist area.

They have a 60s festival in Pickering each summer. The North York Moors Railway puts on a load of events and I've been involved in those a number of times. We have also put on a Cliff & Shads show in a small theatre while at the same time there have been open air performances in the town by acts such as the Searchers and the Swinging Blue Jeans. Somehow the audiences managed to support both each time we did it! This festival normally happens in June which is obviously a good time for tourists and I don't know what proportion of the audience was made up of locals.

They quoted me very high prices and I replied telling them that for a theatre of their size (200 seater) we generally paid half what they were asking, as well as their demand of 15% per ticket, which at most is 10% when applied. It seemed to me that we had to take all the risks while they sat pretty - it's not happening. In this day and age we expect theatres to work together with promoters and artistes to keep the music and entertainment going, instead of charging extortionate hire fees and making it a non-proposition. There are plenty of those who do, so we'll go there.

I think I'd come to the same conclusion!