Warehouse Theatre doors close for good

THE Warehouse Theatre officially closed down on Tuesday, less than two months after the entertainment hub had celebrated its 30th anniversary.

It had been a cultural centre for the Windhoek arts and entertainment scenes, and home to scores of artists, poets, musicians and comedians over the years.

Having hosted both local and international acts, artists such as Joss Stone, Johnny Clegg, Lira, Ty Bailie, Ensemble Vertograd, Julia Sarr and Jan Blohm have performed on the Warehouse Theatre’s stage, while also grooming home-grown gems like Ras Sheehama, Sandy Rudd, Lize Ehlers, Big Ben, Elemotho and Slick.

The Ohlthaver & List Group, owner of the Warehouse Theatre venue, indicated that no income is received from the tenant to the landlord. The group’s manager of corporate communications, Roux-Ché Locke, said the Warehouse Theatre did not pay rent for an extensive period of time.

“Various negotiations took place between the tenant and the landlord. For the past four years, rental reductions, rental freezes and periods of no rental at all were passed onto the tenant to contribute to building the brand as well as sustaining the brand, regrettably, without success to the operator. Eventually, it was financially not sustainable any more for the landlord to contribute to the existence of the Warehouse Theatre,” Locke said.

Warehouse Theatre’s Michael Ott said revenue had been decreasing steadily over the past three years.

“The audience to the theatre has diminished from about 300 to 52. For many years, the boiler room has been carrying the whole place, but its sales are also decreasing. We were seeing fewer feet and people were spending less,” he said.

In April, a crowdfunding festival was held to help keep the theatre operational.

Ott has subsequently said all of the funds received would be paid back. “Crowdfunding campaigns are now closed and money that was donated through our official pages via EventsToday, Web Tickets and GoFundMe will be refunded. EventsToday is busy with it,” said Ott.

Now that the Warehouse has closed, Locke said the landlord is looking at various options which will be communicated soon.

Ott stressed that he is devastated over the closure, saying it is a sad time for Namibian arts and culture, as well the Warehouse Theatre’s employees.

“Eighteen people in total plus security guards are losing their jobs. All of them were made aware that the closure could happen at any stage. There are also countless musicians who are losing part of an income,” he said.

Slick, from Free Your Mind, said the comedy initiative was hosted at the Warehouse Theatre for almost six years. He expressed disappointment at the closure and at having to find another venue.

“The Warehouse Theatre was a perfect venue for us to host our events,” said Slick.