When the company running Durham's Gala Theatre went in to liquidation in May, it was during a performance staged by one of the UK's leading provincial producers. Today, Charles Vance explains why it is time to get behind the Gala.

It is a sad fact of life that the only thing which makes good news in journalistic terms is bad news, as was illustrated when a Government "special advisor" used the tragedy now known as September 11 to release an unpalatable announcement, by burying it on the inside pages of a national newspaper hard pressed to find space for anything other than the holocaust which struck the Twin Towers in New York.

Early this spring, the media throughout the North-East was unanimous in its plaudits which greeted the unveiling of what this journal headlined as a "Flagship Theatre".

Having already been given the honour of being named as the Millennium City, Durham City Council, in partnership with the Millennium Commission and with impressive financial support from virtually every major funding and sponsorship body, embarked on a challenging, civic project.

By any criterion, what emerged was to prove the jewel in an already rich city crown. Not only at local level, but the whole world of the arts saluted the city fathers and the city council for their vision in bringing into being a state-of-the-art theatre as a permanent part of its service to the quality of life in its community.

It was to prove the somewhat late re- dressing of a remarkable imbalance for the county town without any housing for the arts, while every conurbation within its environs, from Newcastle to Darlington, from Billingham to Sunderland, was rich in provision for the performing arts.

I doubt if there are many Durham folk who are aware that the city did have a Royal Theatre in Saddler Street in 1771. It had a short life and was closed as a theatre 20 years later, only to be destroyed by fire in the 19th Century.

In the euphoria which followed the unveiling of the Gala, it seemed inevitable that honours would be showered on those members of the city council and its officers who had wrought this miracle. Soon thereafter it was announced that the Queen would perform an official opening ceremony as a highlight of her itinerary in the North-East on her nationwide jubilee tour.

Every theatrical "production" has its teething problems and there is no child which is born without pain - albeit in varying degrees. No one could have predicted the level of pain that was suffered within a matter of months of the theatre opening its doors. No one, except at the last moment me, could have predicted the shock announcement that the Entertainment Team (Durham) Ltd had elected to go into "voluntary" receivership.

I happened to be the exception as the day before that announcement, as the producer of the play on the Gala's stage that very week, I was advised by our bankers that the cheque, for a substantial sum, in payment of an advance deposit (which we always seek from managements with whom we have not worked before) had been returned by their bank marked Refer to Drawer.

Clearly, this was a company without funds in serious trouble with their bankers. Their business had failed and shock followed shock as the extent of their creditors came to light. There were dozens, maybe hundreds, of creditors both large and small who stood to lose anything from a few pounds to many thousands and, within days, openly and throughout the media, a witch hunt was instigated to find a scapegoat.

As is so often the case, when a public body is involved, the finger was pointed at Durham City Council, with open accusations of their failure to fulfill their fidudiary duties. The accusation was that they had failed to exercise due diligence in the selection process of appointing this management company. No council of any size - even those with less clout than that of Durham City - could, with its clearly defined standing orders and statutory duties, avoid following the well-rehearsed path to cheek every possible credential.

They were given a clean bill of health at every turn. I have no doubt of that as I too, with a large sum at stake, in respect of the production which I was contracted to bring to the Gala, had to check every avenue. And I was in a better position to "check their credentials", having been for over a quarter of a century the vice chair- man of the governing body of theatre.

Not only was the report on our company search satisfactory, but we knew that they held three major contracts for varying degrees of management services at three important London theatres - the Old Vic, the Playhouse and the Arts.

We and they were all duped and I cannot believe that the other large creditors of the stature of this newspaper did not undertake a similar exercise, noting, as I have, the extent of the credit the Echo afforded them. The same applies to a number of national theatrical suppliers whose names are in the lists of creditors published by the liquidators.

It is clear, as one reads one mud-slinging report after another in the North-East, that there has been unrelenting castigation of a council being held responsible for the failure of the Entertainment Team and the creditors' consequent losses.

Overnight the flagship theatre was retitled the troubled theatre. As I wrote at the outset, it's bad news that sells newspapers. But the fact is that the Gala is not a troubled theatre. Is it now time to take stock and call a halt to kicking a public body which, since the debacle, has been intent on putting the irretrievable behind them as they strive to secure the future of that superb amenity which had been so unanimously hailed only a few months ago?

Let us be sure of one thing - we creditors have little or no chance of recovering our losses. Can we not now all get behind the city council and together get the Gala back on track?

In monetary terms, I am more concerned for those local organisations - not even businesses - who are in a position where they may not even survive as a result of the Entertainment Team's indebtedness to them. I think particularly of the local amateur dramatic societies who have lost a vital percentage of their box office income from their productions at the Gala in the spring.

I for one want to stage a major gala at the Gala to raise funds and sponsorship to ensure that they have a future and are enable to ride out this, for them and the whole community, formidable setback. That is one example of a really pressing need - and there are others. There can be nothing to be gained other than vengeance against the council by continuing this vendetta.

I call on all of those local creditors with the right amount of clout to come on board with me, whose financial losses are on a par with any of you (with the possible exception of banks, public bodies and the tax authorities), to realise the boundless potential of the jewel in the crown of your great city.

Durham is a great cathedral city - indeed that fine edifice is regarded by those more knowledgeable than me as one of the finest in Europe. Is it not time to act as the great teacher, to whom that great cathedral is dedicated, taught his disciples to behave in often not dissimilar circumstances? I believe we will all get a feel good factor if we do.