Celebrity 'cast list' in bid to save theatre

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Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Judi Dench, Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson are among the 120 signatories to a letter to the Times protesting at the plan to cease performances at the Theatre Royal Bristol.

They fear that plans to rent out space for weddings and conferences when it reopens will kill off the resident Old Vic Theatre Company.

The theatre is about to close to 18 months for emergency rewiring, repairs and refurbishment.

Its future as a working theatre remains unclear after the resignation of artistic director Simon Reade, who is yet to be replaced, and the admission by theatre officials that conferences and weddings were seen as its future.

The theatre opened in 1766 and the theatre company nurtured the careers of the likes of Peter O'Toole and Daniel Day Lewis.

There are no plans for the company to tour or set up an alternative, temporary base during the £7 million refurbishment.

The surprise closure forced the cancellation of the autumn programme which was set to include Kenneth Brannagh's Ivanov.

The letter said: "What is clear is that the Bristol Old Vic Company is in danger of being allowed to fade away."

Alan Rickman told the Times he was getting letters asking him to help preserve the fabric of a building "that appears to have nothing happening in it".

The theatre's chairman, Rupert Rhymes, admitted to the newspaper that it had struggled financially with waning audiences.