THE curtain has fallen on the Riverina Theatre Company following a board decision to place it into liquidation.The move ends more than 30 years of outstanding contribution to the arts in Wagga.RTC chairman Tony Trench stressed yesterday the end of the RTC did not affect the Playhouse Theatre, which is managed by Charles Sturt University.Once the largest professional regional theatre in Australia, the RTC is now a shadow of what it was at its peak.The RTC’s decline followed withdrawal of government grants, which used to be up to $300,000 a year.“The past four years has been a tremendous struggle, and without that major funding from government sources it is just too difficult,” said RTC vice-chairman, Dr Keith Radford.Dr Radford said 60 invitations were sent out for an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday night at which the company’s future was put on the line.About a dozen people showed up.“The perception out there is the use-by date for the RTC has passed,” Dr Radford said.Dr Radford said the last two productions had lost a lot of money, even though they were produced on a shoestring budget.Mr Trench said it was a very sad day which had been a long time coming.“Quite a few people have been trying to keep it going for a long while, but it has been an unbalanced struggle and we can’t go on indefinitely,” he said.The RTC will be officially closed in a couple of months.