Jun 21, 2010

Wild Rice advisers disbanded after group's debt cleared

By adeline chia

Theatre company Wild Rice has dissolved its informal board of advisers after it paid off a $500,000 debt.
Called The Wild Bunch, the six-member board was convened about five years ago to help the company get out of the red. The company had overstretched itself and had been hit by heavy losses during the Sars epidemic in 2003.
The board was chaired by businessman Tan Puay Hiang and comprises Ms Kay Kuok, executive chairman of Shangri-La Singapore; lawyer Nicholas Chan; poet and investment manager Madeleine Lee; playwright and law professor Eleanor Wong and socialite Audrey Tay-Ong.
They were responsible for going through the company's books and challenging the artistic and financial decisions of the company.
Wild Rice artistic director Ivan Heng, 47, says: 'The balance sheets were scrutinised and they would ask things like, 'Why can't you do this panto for cheaper?' We had to justify our Season.'
He rubbishes rumours that the group stepped down because they were jittery about the National Arts Council cutting its funding to Wild Rice by $20,000.
In a statement, the council had said it would not fund 'projects which are incompatible with the core values promoted by the Government and society or disparage the Government'.
Mr Heng says the board has been inactive for the past two years and that was why it was disbanded. Individual advisers will still 'be a phone call away', he adds.
Wild Rice executive director Tony Trickett, 52, says the funding cut has made the group's supporters even more convinced of their support.
'The thing we realised is that if people believe in what we are doing, they are even more behind us now,' he tells Life!. 'People have sent in cheques and written in with kind words of support.'
He adds that sponsorship for Wild Rice has not been affected, adding that the company is having a 'tremendous year of sponsorship'.
OCBC bank remains the sponsor for the OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival and Robinsons is the sponsor for Cinderel-Lah!, the pantomine to be staged at the Esplanade Theatre in November.
Meanwhile, the 10-year-old company is looking to expand its board of directors, which now comprises Heng, Trickett and associate artistic director Glen Goei. They hope to grow it into a seven-member board in the next few months.
The board members will not be paid and will offer expertise in finance, legal advice and marketing. An important part of their responsibility is to raise funds, network and raise the profile of Wild Rice.
Heng says: 'A board member has to be convinced of the company's mission. You have to offer advice and expertise in a way that is mindful of what is at stake in the work. 'Not every work is going to be a box-office hit but Wild Rice needs to be championed because our mission is to challenge, inspire and entertain.'
Mr Trickett adds: 'We are celebrating our 10th anniversary and we are moving forward. Part of moving forward is to plan a new board to take Wild Rice to the next level.'