No risk, no gain?

In the Dutch theatre system, theatre companies produce plays and perform their plays on theatre stages throughout the country. VVT-theatres are specialized theatres that mainly present high arts, subsidized theatre productions. This thesis focuses on the influence of contract forms on the distribution of income and risk between a VVT-theatre and the companies playing there. Besides that, it describes what activities the two parties agree upon in the contract, to market and promote the performances. My analysis combines contracts used in 2010 in Theater aan het Spui, a VVT-theatre in The Hague, with attendance numbers and box office results. This gives an insight on the influence of contracts on the creation and distribution of income between the two parties involved. The results show that subsidized performances are mostly contracted using buy-out contracts or contracts that combine revenue sharing with a guarantee. The financial risk for the presentation of the performances comes to the account of the theatre, while most if not all income from ticket sales flows to the theatre companies, often leading to a negative nett result for the theatre. The marketing of the performances is mainly the theatre's responsibility. Only 41% of the performances in my database used contracts that mentioned promotion and marketing of the performances. Only 8,5% formalized a shared responsibility and effort in finding an audience. VVT-theatres are usually subsidized by the local government, while the theatre companies are subsidized by the national government. National government subsidies are now demanding more cultural entrepreneurship from the companies: in order to receive funding, the companies to raise their own income. As the contract forms used between VVT-theatres and the companies seldom connect company income to the amounts of tickets sold, it is likely to expect that companies simply raise their income by demanding a higher buy-out sum or guarantee. VVT-theatres will have higher budget deficits, that municipal funds will have to cover.