M Butterfly should fly away according to the new chair of the Federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on the ACT, Bob Chynoweth.
He thinks the advertising sign on the Canberra Theatre’s fly tower should come down.
He said at the handing down the committee’s report on nearby City Hill, “”I am concerned that the theatre is using its tower as an advertising billboard for Mobilenet or Telecom sq(the sponsors of the present production of M Butterfly.”
But the theatre trust’s general manager, David Gration, can probably take the heat. The theatre’s next major production is The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.
The deputy chair of the committee, Margaret Reid, also said she would prefer the banners not to be there, but she understood the theatre’s need to be viable.
Both were expressing personal views.
Mr Gration, said the tower had been used for a decade to advertise shows and to give a sense of excitement when shows were changing. No-one had complained in the three years he had been at the theatre. It was standard practice throughout Australia.
Eighteen months ago, ACT authorities took down the advertising billboard for community events on City Hill and replaced it with a flower garden.