The director of the Molière theater in Sète, Sandrine Mini, is worried about the consequences caused by the budgetary crisis experienced by the Department of Hérault. Its aid to the cultural sector will be impacted.
How is the Théâtre Molière doing at the end of the year?
We have great general satisfaction throughout our first quarter. We are above the objective in terms of filling and recipe. We had a target of 11,700 places sold between September and December, we are already at 11,600 places. Over one year, we recorded €100,000 in additional revenue. We find ourselves at pre-Covid figures. We realize that it took four years, that’s a long time!
“We are already receiving a lot of calls for help”
What were the main satisfactions in terms of programming?
We can cite the Kabaré Kréol with René Lacaille, a unique moment in front of 900 people. There was also Juliette, the powerful Bate Fado, Crazy about sports, with Alex Wizorek… Now comes Jeanne Added (Thursday December 5), the circus reinterpretation of Swan Lake (Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th)… And the start of 2025 promises to be very exciting. We would like to increase the festive times around the shows. We see that we like it a lot. We want to maintain our joy and our ambition, within this fabulous facility, in the middle of an incredible city. We have everything to be happy.
The budgetary crisis hitting the Department of Hérault will impact aid to communities, particularly in Sète Agglo. As such, you are still waiting for 2025…
This is our big question at the moment. How can we program without knowing what amount of subsidies we will be able to benefit from? To date, we know nothing. But what is certain is that cultural programming will take a hit. In 2024, our departmental subsidy amounted to €80,000. This is equivalent to our budget for shows scheduled for the fall. And this crisis for culture does not only concern the Molière theater. These are also all the small structures, the rooms, the theaters, which surround us. Behind it, there is a human being. We are worried about these people who will lose their intermittent status. We must also expect to see companies disappear in 2025. We are already receiving a lot of calls for help…
“If we start in December, our spectators will look elsewhere”
Could you consider moving your season start to December, for example?
If we start in December, our spectators will look elsewhere. This would also impact all the partnerships we have set up. For three weeks, we welcome contemporary creation projects. In September, there were five creations out of twelve projects, with local roots, a fortiori. So they would have zero dates in their territory of establishment? These companies are 80% from Hérault. This period also allows them to make themselves known to be scheduled elsewhere the following season… More generally, if we divide the programming by two in the fall, this corresponds to €1.4 million less impact on the territory.
“Will we have to host seminars to survive?”
Have you studied other solutions?
We had recruitment in progress. Do we put it on standby? We also have two retirements, we can only replace one.
You also have concerns regarding aid from the Occitanie Region…
The Region tells us that it also does not know how much it will be able to help us in 2025. Knowing that it delayed the budget until May! Here too, it’s complicated to move forward. She answers us: “It will be between -5% and much more”… Each year, the Region pays us around €200,000. Concretely, if the Agglo de Sète, which is a huge support for us, were also to reduce its size, we could close for one or two months in the fall of 2025. Knowing that our theaters are full at this time. Will we have to host seminars to survive? You can imagine the waste…
