THE Swan Theatre could be saved if it "lost the costly shackles" of its professional staff and was run by volunteers, a city councillor has claimed.

Leader of the council, Coun Stephen Inman, said the traditional role of the unpaid supporter had been diminished as the professional staff had taken over.

"It is my view that the true volunteers have been pushed out and are no longer welcome as the professional management has taken over," he said.

"Why can't those who are so good at organising financial appeals lever in more sponsorship and donations to keep the theatre going?

"Why should they just rely on taxpayers' money?"

Coun Inman said he did not accept the assumption that the Swan must close because the city council could not fund its payroll.

He said that one idea was to run it as a "receiving theatre" where productions are brought in and none are produced in-house.

"What is more, I would allow the amateur groups, friends and volunteers to manage it themselves with, perhaps, a couple of modestly paid organisers," he said.

"I firmly believe that when the council comes to set its budget in February/March it will be virtually impossible to avoid a reduction in the theatre's grant.

"If the city council put £54,000 on the table, which I have indicated would be feasible, then there is a fighting chance the theatre can survive, even if it had to lose the costly shackles of its professionals."

However, chairman of the Swan Theatre Gerald Harris said he was "depressed" by Coun Inman's suggestions.

"I did not think we would be talking about the fate of the Swan in this way," he said. "This would set it back 30 or 40 years."

Mr Harris said the Swan did have 30 people on the payroll, but only eight were full-time.

Community

Extra staff also had to be taken on to cope with the community education work the theatre accepted from the city council four years ago.

"You have to have professional people for jobs like sales staff," Mr Harris said.

"If those jobs were done by volunteers the theatre would have already gone under."

Mr Harris added the Swan would also not succeed as a receiving theatre because it would have to compete with Malvern Theatres and the city would lose an important resource in the in-house production.

"A lot of young people have grown up through the Swan and gone on to be professionals, and a lot of adults found opportunity here such as Lance Woodman," he said, referring to the author of the successful play Red Skies Over the Severn.

Mr Harris added Coun Inman's statements totally contradicted the council's own consultative report prepared earlier this year, which said no one at the council had cause to criticise the actions of the financial department of the theatre.