ONE of the country’s most established performing arts theatre, the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac), may never be able to fully recover from the movement-control order (MCO), said its founders, Dr Faridah Merican and Joe Hasham.

It has incurred more than RM600,000 in losses after dozens of shows were cancelled or postponed s since the MCO started on March 18. The MCO has since been extended until May 12.

In the span of one weekend after the third phase of the MCO was announced, KLPac went from 27 cancelled or postponed shows to 43.

Within the same period, losses racked up by the 15-year-old arts establishment increased from RM519,789 to RM633,900 as of April 13.

Founded in 2005, the non-profit organisation receives no government funding.

It holds about 100 to 150 shows annually with an estimated audience of more than 80,000, making RM3.3 million a year on an average ticket priced at RM38. To operate, it requires up to RM4.4 million annually.

Already struggling to raise the annual amount, KLPac is now staring at massive losses arising from the MCO.

Phase IV of the MCO ends on May 12 and was enforced to curb the Covid-19 outbreak, which has so far infected 5,945 and killed 100.

To cope with some of its losses, KLPac launched a #SaveYourSeat fundraiser where donors can adopt a seat from RM50 onwards.

To date, the campaign has raised about RM62,600, Faridah and Joe told The Malaysian Insight.

“We launched #SaveYourSeat on April 17. So far, it is off to a great start though it still has some way to go.

“As of April 25, 67% of the seats have been adopted, raising RM62,600.”

They, however, said even if all seats from the #SaveYourSeat campaign are adopted, it will still lead to a shortfall.

On top of that, the centre is also imposing a 20% voluntary pay cut.

Faced with an unprecedented challenge, KLPac is engaging all parties, including the government, corporations and the public, for funds.

“We have submitted three reports to the National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN) upon their request and their offer to help since March 17. However, there has been no news yet.

“Even if we find the funds to weather this storm, it still means funds are being diverted away from other areas, such as maintenance for the sake of operations,” said Faridah and Joe.

Yet, maintenance is crucial, as technical items may break down or become obsolete.

Once the MCO is lifted, KLPac plans to reopen its doors with smaller shows but with strict guidelines in place.

“We have to consider both the safety of the cast and staff as well as the audience. Even after MCO, there will be social-distancing guidelines in place.

“Fortunately, we have a considerable amount of space at KLPac, indoor and outdoor. So, our 500-seater could effectively be a 250-seater. And our 200-seater could be cut down to 100.”

Still, they anticipate further struggles as venue hirers have cancelled bookings up to October.

“We are not talking about just the MCO period. Venue hirers have dropped bookings up to October. That’s almost the whole year gone for us.” – April 30, 2020.