downsmail.co.uk
Let’s work to get the virus under control
By Helen Whately MP for
Faversham and Mid-Kent
There is a light that never goes out
THE Hazlitt Theatre is more than its walls. I un- derstand this decision isn’t about the theatre it- self and is more a comment on the state of our local and national finances due to the pandemic. But the theatre is not an opportunity to make a quick saving. Its existence is a lifeline for many. On our darkest days, the Hazlitt has helped Maidstone find laughter, magic and hope. COVID-19 has managed to take so much from us all already. Over 300 young people alone enter the Ha- zlitt’s doors every week. This doesn’t include its pre-COVID-19 audiences or any of its user groups. This is just the young people. Young people, who according to Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, have the right to have access to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities ap- propriate to their age and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. Do not take this away from them. In breaking the contract with Parkwood The-
atre, the council has seen the benefit of “moth- balling” the building. Having worked in the arts for many years, I can tell you that this isn’t an op- tion if you want to open the Hazlitt’s doors again.
By Amy Riley Campaigner to Save The Hazlitt
The local council will always have to prioritise something “more important” In mothballing the building, you will never be able to give it what it needs when COVID-19 allows the theatre to bloom once more. Even more so, there are staff who not only have had to live on a furloughed wage this year, but you would also be making them redundant at Christmas time. In theatres, when the audience leaves and the
technical crew lock up, one light is left on centre stage – the “ghost light”. This theatre tradition means that even in the dead of night a theatre never loses its magic. All the laughter, tears and happiness generated by the audience and on the stage are not swallowed by the darkness. Please don’t be the person who helps to turn off that light. Keep this building’s past, present and future alive. A version of this article appeared on Facebook
Opinion
47
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