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The £300m battle to save our theatres
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent22 Nov 2007
When it pours with rain, the stage of the Old Vic gets wet. The theatre has never been refurbished in its 189 years and the roof still leaks from the damage caused by a Second World War bomb. It would all take an estimated £25 million to fix.
The Garrick Theatre has not been updated technically since it was built in 1889 and all the West End venues built before the use of steel and the introduction of "cantilever" balconies in around 1890 have views obscured by pillars.
Even the most modern-looking venues are anything but. The Adelphi looks like a 1930s building but is essentially a remodelling of a 1901 remodelling of buildings dating back to 1858 when bars were not intended for female use - hence the dearth of loos.
It is hardly surprising that theatre-goers complain of bad sightlines and inadequate lavatories. But in 2003 a Theatres Trust report, Act Now!, said it would take an estimated £250 million to bring the 40 commercial theatres in the West End up to date. With inflation and other factors the cost is now likely to be around the £300 million mark.
In the four years since the report was published, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and the London Development Agency have all held talks with the Society of London Theatre, which represents theatre management. The result? Precisely nothing in the way of public support.
Richard Pulford, chief executive of the Society of London Theatre, said: "As far as those conversations are concerned, they are on hold. They have not produced successful results, not least because of the interjection of the Olympics.
"But there are a number of theatres that urgently need work to be done and if nothing can be done before 2012/2013, there's a real risk we will have closures. Act Now! was called Act Now! on the basis that something needed to be done quickly."
Hopes are now pinned on Bob Blackman, the London Assembly member charged with investigating practical ways to help. Earlier this week he floated a levy on ticket prices as one solution.
Sir Cameron Mackintosh, owner of seven West End venues, and the Ambassador Theatre Group, owners of 10, have already acted. Three years ago Sir Cameron instituted a 75 pence per ticket charge, initially at the Prince of Wales and the Prince Edward and since extended to his group of seven.
Nicholas Allott, managing director of his business empire, said: "It's clearly displayed and there has been no resistance from theatre-goers at all. But the money raised so far is scratching the surface compared with what has been spent."
It was only because of Sir Cameron's separate success as a theatre producer that he was able to take the personal decision to plough around £20 million of his own money back into his theatre stock, Mr Allott said. A big hit musical in a large theatre could make money. "But most playhouses rub along by the skin of their teeth. One dark month can wipe out the profits of the last three."
The levy, first mooted in an editorial in the Evening Standard, seemed to most of those involved the best way for the theatre world to raise cash to tackle the problems they nearly all share.
Mr Allott said public money was still needed to improve the theatre experience. "A massive number of people come to see theatre both from inside and outside the country. And we're talking about heritage that has already lasted 100 years - 200 in some cases - and will last for another 200 years beyond that. I would like to be hopeful that there will be public funding forthcoming but at the moment we can see no evidence of it."
The Ambassador Theatre Group is doing likewise. Michael Lynas, executive director of its national theatres, said it had introduced a £1 restoration levy at the Trafalgar Studios. The levy will be added to sales at the Fortune Theatre from February and then at the rest of the group's West End venues.
"These buildings are old and intensively used and there's a pressing need for immediate work," he said. "But immediate public funding for arts and culture regeneration projects is currently unavailable and we therefore have to look at alternative ways of generating funds."
Mhora Samuel, director of the Theatres Trust, suggests that local authorities could insist on what is known as section 106 money being assigned to theatres as part of the condition for planning developments. Longer term, she wants a discussion on what "public benefit" means when it comes to restoring the historic fabric of the West End.
Certainly at present the Heritage Lottery Fund is unlikely to help, admitting that private and commercial theatre owners, while eligible for HLF support, are a low priority.
So the levy may be the way ahead. Terri Paddock, of the whatsonstage.com website, which organises theatre visits, said she believed theatre-goers would accept a levy depending on how much it added to the cost of seeing a show.
"Theatre-goers don't want to see the price of their tickets go up so dramatically that it makes a noticeable difference to their pocket," she said.
"But people do notice the state of the theatres - there are some that are just notorious."
THE SORRY STATE OF THEATRELAND...
ADELPHI, THE STRAND
Built 1806, Grade II listed, seats 1,500, owned by the Really Useful Group. Plans in hand to improve air-handling units and disabled access.
Recent productions: Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
COMEDY, PANTON STREET
Built in 1881, Grade II listed, seats 795, owned by Ambassador Theatre Group. Apart from routine maintenance, has had a security system installed recently. No other known plans.
Recent productions: Boeing-Boeing, The Rocky Horror Show.
NOEL COWARD, ST MARTIN'S LANE
Built in 1903, Grade II listed, seats 877, owned by Delfont Mackintosh. Underwent major refurbishment in 2006 after it was bought by Cameron Mackintosh including front-of-house alterations. Previously known as the Albery.
Recent productions: Avenue Q, Endgame.
CRITERION, PICCADILLY CIRCUS
Built in 1874, Grade II listed, seats 591, owned by Criterion Trust Ltd. In 1992, Sally Greene raised £500,000 to renovate it. No structurally changes made within a decade of it opening. Recent productions: The 39 Steps, The Reduced Shakespeare Company.
GIELGUD, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
Built in 1906, Grade II listed, seats 889, owned by Delfont Mackintosh. Cameron cash has improved lavatories, bars, seating and the facade. May get an upgrade of its technical equipment.
Recent productions: Macbeth, Equus.
GARRICK, CHARING CROSS ROAD
Built in 1889, Grade II* listed, seats 724, owned by Nimax. Underwent major restoration work in 1986 and 1997 that reduced the venue from four to three levels, so reducing capacity. But it has not been technically updated since it was built. Recent productions: Bad Girls, Treats.
THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE, CATHERINE STREET
Built in 1812, Grade I listed, seats 2,188, owned by the Really Useful Group. Understage machinery massively overhauled for Lord of the Rings. Theatres Trust says full restoration could cost £15 - £40m.
Recent productions: The Producers, The Lord of the Rings.
QUEEN'S, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
Built 1907, Grade II listed, seats 990, owned by Delfont Mackintosh. On Cameron Mackintosh's list for refurbishment (last refurbished in 1992). Partially rebuilt after bomb damage in 1940.
Recent productions: Les Misérables, The Taming of the Shrew.
NOVELLO, ALDWYCH
Built in 1905, Grade II listed, seats 1,052, owned by Delfont Mackintosh. Had £3 million refurbishment in cream, gold and dark red thanks to Cameron cash two years ago. Formerly known as the Strand.
Recent productions: Desperately Seeking Susan, The Tempest.
SAVOY, THE STRAND
Built in 1881, Grade II* listed, seats 1,157, owned by Ambassador Theatre Group. The first public building in the world to be lit by electricity, it was refurbished at a cost of £12 in 1993 after a fire destroyed its beautiful Art Deco interior.
Recent productions: Fiddler on the Roof, Porgy and Bess.
PRINCES OF WALES, COVENTRY STREET
Built in 1884, seats 1,131, owned by Delfont Mackintosh. A £7 million refurbishment by Sir Cameron funded major internal and external alternations and created extra front-of-house space.
Recent productions: Mamma Mia!, Rent.
APOLLO, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
Built in 1901, Grade II listed, seats 775, owned by Nimax. Boasting the steepest balcony in London. Former owner Andrew Lloyd Webber was said to want to demolish it.
Recent productions: Glengarry Glen Ross, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
LONDON PALLADIUM, ARGYLL STREET
Built in 1910, Grade II* listed, seats 2,291, owned by the Really Useful Group. Plans to fund refurbishment by building offices on part of the site foundered because it was uneconomic to close the venue for nine months.
Recent productions: The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
SHAFTESBURY, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
Built in 1911, Grade II listed, seats 1,405, owned by DLT Entertainment. Exterior needs an overhaul and the air-conditioning does not work. But it has re-carpeted the auditorium and improved disabled access and has plans for new seating and redecorating the facade.
Recent productions: Hairspray, Fame the Musical.
HAYMARKET THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET
Built in 1821, Grade I listed, seats 894, owned by Theatre Royal Haymarket. A £1.3 million refurbishment in 1994 was self-funded. Needed 2,000 books of 22-carat gold leaf to reclaim its Edwardian glory. Minor works in hand.
Recent productions: The Country Wife, The Last Confession.
LYRIC, SHAFTESBURY AVENUE
Built in 1888, Grade II listed, seats 916, owned by Nimax. The oldest surviving theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, it was refurbished in the 1930s and again in the 1990s. Recently underwent minor works to improve wheelchair access.
Recent productions: Cabaret, Death of a Salesman.
THE OLD VIC, WATERLOO ROAD
Built in 1818, Grade II* listed, seats 1,067, owned by The Old Vic Trust. Never had a proper refurbishment - aside from cosmetic improvements - so needs work estimated to cost £25 million.
Recent productions: All About My Mother, The Entertainer.
Reader views (2)
As someone who works in theatres and concert halls up and down the country and abroad, it saddens and angers me that very little is being done to maintain these beautiful buildings as they deserve. Theatre architects and architecture have always been the poor relation to the building world, but some of the auditoria in this country are magnificent. How awful it is to see the shabby and unloved auditorium (a magnificent creation by Frank Matcham) of The London Palladium for example: dreary chocolate brown and faded gold and holes in the plasterwork, where it should be closed, restored and made good again. That is just one example. The longer they get left, the more has to be spent on the fabric. If that makes sense to the various owners, it certainly doesn't to me!
- Ian Belsey, Bromley, Kent. England, 01/01/2008 13:51
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Our valuable heritage of theatre buildings has been allowed to be run-down or demolished since World War I.
Various governments have paid lip-service to the theatre but in reality they have not matched their words with actions.
The housing the arts policy has been abandoned. Listing has failed to preserve many theatres which have suffered from some neglect or deliberate destruction, which local authorities have failed to prevent.
- John West, Redditch UK, 31/12/2007 20:08
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