I can’t say I’m all that tempted by the Southbank Centre’s upcoming show, Farm Fatale, which is about five scarecrows “who have lost their original jobs thanks to climate change” and “come together in a commune”.
Created by “world-renowned French artist and director Philippe Quesne”, Farm Fatale “envisions an absurdly charming universe, inhabited by gentle dreamers and activists who have an urgent ecological message for our times.”
Charming?!
More like ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING:
Though perhaps not as terrifying as the bill attached to the Southbank Centre. Between 2021-25 it received £101,053,330 from taxpayers:
To be fair to the Southbank Centre – which is celebrating its 75th anniversary today – it puts on a lot of shows and caters to many different tastes. It’s not ALL BAD (I even found myself booking a gig in the course of this research, dun dun dunnnn).
Still, will taxpayers be happy to subsidise the following?
The Rest Is Politics: The Special Relationship with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, as well as The Rest is Politics: Off the Record
And can £101,053,330 be justified given the state of our economy?
Never mind that the Southbank Centre charges people a “restoration levy” AND booking fee AND tries to add on £5 in donation to the Centre when you buy tickets. Behold, a screenshot of my lived experience below (I removed the £5 donation but had no other choice about the other bits):
How much money does this place need?!
Unfortunately this is just the norm in the arts sector, as readers can see with my latest charity audit. The running total for taxpayer-funded charities in the arts is £136,102,040:
Yesterday’s video:
