The fringe theater in Israel has never received a particularly large budget, to say the least.
The industry that fights tooth and nail and makes uncompromising art, sometimes with ridiculous budgets, is now declaring a state of emergency.
An email was sent to the Minister of Culture Hili Trooper asking for immediate assistance, to prevent this world from fading.
"We are contacting you after we have reached a point of no return in the relationship between the cultural director under your responsibility and the 40 independent theater groups registered with you in the Fringe section. To remind you, we are in August 2022 and it is still not known what our budget is for the current year, which in itself is absurd. In addition, we have not been forwarded The support at the times it is supposed to arrive by law, which forces us to take personal loans and enter situations of existential urgency.
"We personally guarantee all our teams: actors, creators, technical teams, marketing managers, etc., who are supposed to be paid on time. We are currently unable to continue functioning. We declare a state of emergency! We were at your meeting about two months ago and the situation has not only not changed, but Deteriorated to a low point.
"We ask in every language of request for your immediate intervention in approving the model and the immediate flow of funds! It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture, which you head, to act in a decent and proper manner towards the bodies actually responsible for the development of culture in Israel", according to the letter, signed by the independent theater groups - Fringe Section: Atiit, Nesher Theater, Tamune, Shelter 209, Kilpa, the Jerusalem Theater Group, Ruth Kenner, Mikro, Pesik, HaGilil Shlomi, Zikit-Galil Theater, Niko Nitai Theater, Espamia Ensemble under the direction of Dalia Shimko and more.
"For me, a state of emergency means that the budgets that are transferred to the theater groups, the fringe centers and the independent creators, do not come at their time specified by law, every quarter or so. We must understand that there are 40 theater groups, seven fringe centers and many independent creators, and our general budget is a disgrace. 40 Theater groups together receive 22 million shekels per year, the fringe centers, seven in number 3,150,000 and two years ago there were only five fringe centers that received 1,190,000.
"This year there are more centers and less money. We are not being raised in the budget, the situation is crazy, everyone knows it. The minister and the people of the Ministry of Culture met with the representatives of the groups, but there is no news," says Tamune CEO and founder Ilan Rosenthal.
The Ministry of Culture stated: "The issue has been resolved. The support model for the theater groups was approved by the support committee today. The Culture Administration is in daily contact with the bodies in order to assist and treat.
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