Mamma Mia! writer in fight to stop theatre cut

The tiny venue in Shepherd's Bush, renowned for championing new writers, is threatened with a potentially devastating reduction of £180,000 in its Arts Council grant.

It is among a number of organisations which face having their grants withdrawn or reduced.

Today, Catherine Johnson joined actors John Simm, Richard Wilson and Victoria Wood in demanding a re-think.

She was a single mother when The Bush premiered some of her earliest work. Now she is a millionaire thanks to the commercial success of the Abba musical.

"I never went to university - I was a very raw unpublished talent and the Bush welcomed and developed me," she said. "They made me a writer. It's a nursery that has contributed millions in tax to this country from all the people who have come out of it and earned a living.

"A lot of employment has been put back into this country but it is viewed as something that is not worth investing in. If it was any other kind of industry that was being shut down like this there would be an absolute outcry."

Johnson said the danger if the cuts went ahead was that theatre in Britain would end up being based in only a handful of buildings.

"Where are new writers going to learn their craft?" she added.

The Arts Council is worried that its £480,000 a year investment in The Bush fails to deliver value for money. The venue has a capacity of just 81 and the seats are uncomfortable.

However, more than 100,000 people saw its productions last year because of the West End transfers of its hit shows Whipping It Up and Elling.

Josie Rourke, the Bush's new artistic director, said the theatre was aware of the concerns.

But there was no Lottery money available for a new building or even funds for a report on alternative venues.

Rourke said the real cost - and value - of the Bush lay in its development work. Every manuscript it was sent - more than 100,000 a year - was read and it offered advice to many writers.

"Irrespective of where the Bush is, the way we develop and support writers takes investment," she said. "Year after year, those risks have been paying off."

The Bush's total budget is £1 million and its programme for next season and the appointment of an executive producer have been put on hold because of the uncertainty.

Life On Mars actor Simm, who starred in Elling, has called the proposed cut a "travesty".

The Arts Council has received an inflation-proofed funding deal from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport but has decided to back those bodies that most merit it.

Fifty three organisations in London have been threatened with cuts but others, such as the Roundhouse and the Thames Festival, are promised increases.

The proposals have nothing to do with funding for the London Olympics.