Each application is different."The theatre's predicament has again thrown up the debate about large building grants for arts organisations which are then unable to raise extra funding from sponsorship to initiate rebuilding. Ian Albery said that other bodies in similar difficulties were the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal Opera House and the Tate Gallery.The Arts Council's spokeswoman denied this, saying: "This venue is the only one of any significance to have problems of this kind.". The Royal Opera House faced yet more bad publicity on the same night that their six-part BBC documentary The House ended. The Opera House last night was celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the performance of the Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty with a gala performance starring Darcy Bussell. Those expected included the Queen and Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet, who nurtured the likes of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev. But they were met outside by around 40 staff planning the biggest protest yet against predicted massive job cuts, and chanting: "Save Our House".
A recent report in The Stage newspaper suggested that the ROH may cut as many as two in three of its 827 staff to 324, when it moves temporarily from its Covent Garden base in 1997 for three seasons.The House's director of public affairs Keith Cooper admitted this was one of many options the House was considering but he maintained that no major decisions have yet been taken. The Royal Opera House has still to find a venue for the seasons before it returns its Covent Garden home in 1999, refurbished with pounds 78m of Lottery money.The staff union BECTU are still in delicate negotiations with ROH management about job losses but the House has already announced 110 redundancies in the past three months.The arts institution will be glad to see the end of the BBC documentary, which has depicted management squabbles, staff upheaval and production mishaps. But, just as the first night of The House documentary saw staff picket outside Sir Michael Tippett's the Midsummer Marriage, so, on the night the series ended, there was another picket for Sleeping Beauty. Organisers said before the 7pm performance that their protest was peaceful, and they would not disturb the heavy police presence.The demonstration is only the latest in the opera house's travails.. Jojo Moyes As most of Britain shivered under snow and ice yesterday, householders were given the news that they were likely to face more water shortages this summer. Neil Fishpool, chairman of the National Campaign for Water Justice, said: "Water customers are certainly not getting the service they were promised at privatisation.
We want less investment into the bosses' pockets and more to the shareholders. If water companies cannot promise water supplies all year round then their licences should be revoked." A spokeswoman for Ofwat, the industry regulator, said: "We expect companies to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure last summer's situation doesn't occur. This means continuing with their hosepipe bans and tackling their leakage. We'll be monit oring them closely to make sure they meet targets." The reactions came as a National Rivers Authority (NRA) report ordered by John Gummer, Secretary of State for the Environment, warned that some regions should brace themselves for restrictions as the unusually dry weather continues.
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