Regency

When <3 and I moved to Wantage earlier this year there was a small cinema, hidden above some shops, accessed through an unassuming doorway in the corner of the market square. The cinema had two screens, was a bit tatty and run down, and didn't sell tickets in advance. However, it was cheaper than most other cinemas, showed most of the films we wanted to see and had a certain charm and individuality. For the last few years (while we were living in the next town along to the East) we used this cinema as our main movie-going destination. This was even better when we moved to within walking distance.

This summer, the cinema closed down. This had been on the cards for some time, with falling attendance and increasing competition from bigger chain cinemas within a 30-minute drive. It was not unexpected, but it was sad.

A couple of evenings ago there was a public meeting at the civic centre, with all and sundry invited to discuss the possible ways to get a cinema back in the community. I went along.

The meeting was being held in a reasonable sized room which was already half full when I arrived. More people arrived and when the numbers passed 100, with many more queuing outside, we were moved upstairs to the main hall. By the time the meeting began, that hall was also full -- I estimate over 300 people in all, of all ages and from all sectors of the community. Clearly there was a lot of feeling in the town about this -- apparently this was a bigger turnout than the "Save The Hospital" meeting had received!

After a number of people had had their say, one of the town councillors in attendance encouraged a committee to be formed, with the intention of handing all future action and discussion to them. A good number of people volunteered and a chair was selected: a woman who had already been working hard to build up support for a community cinema of some sort. Unfortunately, from there on things kind of dissolved. There seemed to be numerous ad hoc subcommittees of friends who had the whole situation solved in their minds and were busy deciding how they would proceed with marketing, etc. Meanwhile voices from the floor kept making points, unlistened to by the new committee, who were otherwise engaged.

What this situation needs is strong leadership: someone who can hold a varied group of people together, get their ideas out and discussed then help the committee make some decisions without alienating half of its members. I'm hoping the chairwoman can provide this leadership, but only time will tell. I volunteered to help on the committee and left my contact details, then went home to save my own sanity. I really home a committee meeting is organised: I will attend if at all possible and will do what I can to aid the cause, but it is important to decide what the cause actually is. At the moment there is no such focus.