THE Cork Arts Theatre - the Cat Club to Corkonians for the past 21 years - has had to swim against the tide. A voluntary body, it exists for the love of theatre. To mark its 21st year of operation, it intends to research and document the history of theatre in Cork. The Cat Club runs its own production company - Alleycats - which gives an opportunity to aspiring performers and directors to display their talents. Over the years, several amateurs who first appeared in the theatre have gone on to better things.
One of the players, Damien Kearney, of Ballincollig, has won a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), and is studying there now. We may hear more of him. By next October, another up and coming star, Roisin Fitzgerald, will take a place in one of the drama colleges in the UK - and it has all come about because the 90 seat theatre at 7, Knapps Square in Cork, has been fostering local talent and feeding it into the mainstream.
The Cat Club, though, has a problem. It receives no State funding, and bar the provision of some part time staff by FAS, it has to look to its own devices.
Other than the help offered through the FAS scheme, the Cat Club grant aid this season has amounted to £300 from Cork Corporation - not exactly an over generous amount of money. It has no option, therefore, but to help itself. In debt to the tune of £10,000, the theatre, which is justly regarded as a vital link in the cultural life of Cork, must depend on fund raising to keep going. Although £10,000 is not a lot of money to most organisations, it is to the Cat Club - and it must be found. Who could help?
For a start, says Ms Mary Healy, secretary of the club, anyone interested in theatre in Cork, and its future, should support the fundraising ventures.
"We cannot keep up with the ongoing maintenance of the theatre - keeping the lights and equipment working, generating publicity material, providing the stage staff paying rent for our set storage and construction area," she said.
The annual outgoings for this voluntary organisation are under £30,000, but incoming revenue is less. The theatre puts on up to 40 productions a year, including Shakespeare, panto, and work by emerging writers in Cork as well as overseas playwrights.
The efforts of the theatre to overcome its difficulties coincide with the launch recently by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Mr Jim Corr, of "A Sense of Cork", a new festival designed to celebrate the creativity of the people of the city. The festival will run from June 21st to June 29th next, and will feature more than 60 events in 13 venues throughout Cork. It has come about through a collaboration between Cork Corporation and the Cork Arts Development Committee.
The festival will be built around St John's Eve - Bonfire Night - a time of great energy, says Mr Corr. There will be events run by the Triskel Arts Centre; the Firkin Crane Centre; and the Everyman Palace Theatre which is organising a Victorian Street Fair for June 29th on Cork's MacCurtain Street.
And the good news is that Murphy's stout and Heineken will be sold at the Victorian price of a pint for a penny.