Bush Theatre faces £180,000 cut in funding

The tiny west London venue with a 35-year track record of finding new playwrights is on a list of organisations whose Arts Council England funding is under review.

The council is proposing a reduction from £480,000 a year to £300,000. It comes ahead of concerns that paying for the 2012 Olympics - which will be part-funded with National Lottery cash - will mean less money for arts organisations.

The Bush's total budget is £1million. It means the theatre's programme for next season and the appointment of a new executive producer have been put on hold. It is one of 53 bodies in London affected.

The Bush, where Stephen Poliakoff, Tony Kushner, Mark Ravenhill and Conor McPherson worked early in their careers, is to contest the cut.

The venue has an international reputation. When Josie Rourke was made artistic director last year, the appointment was reported in the New York Times and trade magazine Variety.

Simm, the Life On Mars actor who starred in The Bush play Elling, which transferred to the West End last year, said a cut would be "a travesty".

"The Bush is a breeding ground for the West End," he said. "For writers and directors and actors it's absolutely essential to have theatres like the Gate and the Bush. But they're [ working] on the bare bone as it is. I don't know how the Arts Council thinks they will survive with a cut."

Wilson, who starred in the Bush's hit political drama Whipping It Up, said a cut would be "crazy".

"The Bush is a cauldron for so many of the young writers who go on to write for television and for mainstream theatre," he said. "Everyone in the business knows it is a vital part of the new writing theatre in Britain - so much has started there.

"They're so meticulously careful about keeping their spending down. They run a very tight ship."

The Arts Council is concerned the theatre has only 81 seats - just 100,000 people saw a Bush show last year - but Wilson said this meant it could be more daring.

Wood first worked with Julie Walters on a topical revue at the Bush in 1978 and was commissioned to write her first play on the back of it.

"All the proposed cuts are really scary but I have a special feeling for the Bush because it gave me a massive break," she said. "The amount of money in government terms is not a huge amount but in terms of people's creativity and energy it re-pays.

"Cutting theatre grants - and circus and ballet and opera - is a horrible, shortsighted policy."

An Arts Council London spokeswoman said: "In the current venue, the return for what is short of £500,000 is relatively low. We want to continue to support them but they need to find a venue that's fit for purpose."