IT'S not called the Towngate for nothing. On the eve of its 20th anniversary, Basildon's theatre is striving to live up to its name and founding charter, as Essex's one true town community theatre and the gateway to the town.

Southend's theatres are now run commercially by HQ Theatres. Basildon has determined on a different route.

After three failed attempts at farming the theatre out to commercial management, and a long period of total closure, the Towngate is back in the public domain.

Manager Paul Brace reports not to shareholders but directly to the council.

"It's a community theatre, not a commercial theatre," he said. "The point of the whole experiment is to create the best fit for the community."

The reborn Towngate is also seen as a key player in the future £1billion regeneration scheme for Basildon, which aims to bring life back into the town at night-time.

This was a prime factor in the decision to reopen the Towngate in May 2006.

"If you're trying to create a vibrant community and reinvigorate the town centre, what sort of message does a dark theatre in the heart of the town send out?" asks councillor Tony Hedley, the cabinet member with responsibility for leisure.

Mr Hedley also points out the irony that it can cost more to keep a theatre dark than to run shows, even at a loss. "It costs money to keep it closed," he said. "The fabric has to be maintained so it doesn't deteriorate. Which way do you go? It's a fine balance."

Having made the decision to light up, the council has reverted to the system announced at its 1988 launch, mixing outside commercial productions with a strong flow of amateur theatricals.

"Our stage is wide open for talent of every description," Mr Brace said.

Yet one year into the experiment, Basildon's largest amateur theatre group has queried the viability of the experiment.

BasOp (Basildon Oper-atic Society) may "in the longer term" take the reluctant decision to pull its productions out of the Towngate. "The Towngate is a lovely place to perform, but in the end it comes down to a simple question of money," says BasOp's chairman Haydn Price.

He points out amateur groups like BasOp are financially vulnerable. Two groups, in Romford and Thundersley, have recently closed. BasOp is a thriving society, with around 100 members.

Yet behind the cheerful all-singing all-dancing chorus lines lie furrowed brows. "We're trying hard to hold back the tide but we can't go on being hit forever," said Mr Price.

BasOp's immediate concern is the withdrawal of the Towngate Performance Support Scheme. This was set up to help fulfil the Towngate's remit to support community theatre. The scheme helped local groups by defraying the Towngate's hire costs. We applied annually for £2,000, and it has supported us well in our aim, which was to basically break even," Mr Price said.

"Shows are expensive to mount. That money definitely made a big difference."

BasOp members even query the commitment of the council to live theatre. "We never see councillors in our audiences," said committee member Fred Woodrow. "It's not like Southend, where opening nights are an official event, attended by the mayor."

Mr Hedley, naturally, denies any lack of commitment. "Whatever the perception, we have been spending more on the arts. We are investing heavily in the Towngate.

"But it's not my money we are spending and we have to look at how we spread any subsidy system."

Mr Brace is not shedding crocodile tears over the withdrawal of the support scheme. "It was just easy money to make productions cheaper," he said. "That is not what community theatre is about."

In place of the scheme, the theatre management has introduced the Friends of the Towngate. While most theatres have a voluntary friends group, the Towngate has devised a financial support element that may be unique.

Amateur groups provide services such as ticket-selling and manning the bar. This is offset against the cost of mounting a show.

"The Friends scheme is the result of sitting down and trying to work out the best way of doing things.

"These are early days, but this is a community theatre, and as far as possible, we are trying to involve the community directly," said Mr Brace. "That's what Friends is about."

The term experimental theatre normally refers to a type of play, but right now the Towngate theatre is one big experiment.

"Nothing is predictable in running a theatre," says Mr Hedley. "Shows that you expect to make money lose it. Others sell out. But the commitment is there."

In the end the most unpredictable factor is also the most crucial - Basildon bums on Basildon seats.

"The town has been crying out for the Towngate to reopen," said Mr Hedley. But its future, he says, "will require the public to support their theatre."