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Angry stars save theatres from closure
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent1 Feb 2008
London's Bush Theatre has been saved after a massive campaign by theatre stars angered at plans to axe its public funding.
The tiny venue in Shepherd's Bush was one of a handful of bodies to be saved from Arts Council cuts in a last-minute U-turn.
A proposed reduction of £180,000 in its £480,000 grant prompted protests from actors including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen and Daniel Radcliffe.
The campaign - highlighted by the Evening Standard - was also backed by playwrights Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard who said the theatre is an important nursery for generations of writers from Stephen Poliakoff to Catherine Johnson who wrote the West End hit Mamma Mia!
The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond is also believed to have been reprieved. But on D-day for the 53 organisations in London that faced wipe-out in the cuts, others are still facing an uncertain future. Tara Arts, which specialises in south-east Asian theatre, the Watermans arts centre in Brentford, the Drill Hall in central London, which profiles lesbian and gay arts and Bubble, a popular theatre company in south London, are understood to have failed to convince in their appeals that they warrant further public subsidy.
Some have been funded for years but all face only weeks to find alternative support before grants are axed from 1 April.
Of the 194 organisations facing a total cut, the Standard understands just 18 have been saved as a result of the appeals procedure.
As the full picture emerges, it is possible that some winners will prove as contentious as the losers.
The Royal Opera House is understood to have secured an uplift while its troubled rival, English National Opera, has been challenged to prove its worth.
The National Theatre, where a popular sponsorship deal from Travelex has lured thousands of new visitors with £10 tickets, has been given a basic inflation increase.
Winners include the Arcola theatre in east London, a highly inventive new venue, and the revamped Roundhouse in Chalk Farm.
The Northcott theatre in Exeter and Dedalus publishers in Cambridgeshire, which specialises in translating foreign books into English, are also thought to have been reprieved.
Many groups under threat queried the standard of skill and knowledge in those making the decisions.
The Council was forced to retract its suggestion that The Bush was planning to "scale back" its productions over the next three years. The venue argued fiercely that its business plan suggested nothing of the sort.
Others to back the Bush campaign and fight the cuts in general included Kevin Spacey, John Simm, Bob Hoskins, Nicholas Hytner, Sir Christopher Frayling and Sir Salman Rushdie.
The full review was being unveiled at the Hampstead Theatre, a venue understood to have received an £180,000 increase in funding.
The Council has argued that the arts will be much stronger in the long-term as a consequence of the root and branch review. The aim is to reward excellence and innovation.
Art world insiders were waiting to examine in detail whether the Council has fulfilled pledges including a
prioritisation of the visual arts. Many support the principal of excellence while believing the Council has been tardy and perverse in its execution of such a policy.
As well as 194 facing total grants axe, 35 arts bodies faced reductions. A total of 126 organisations objected to the proposals. Their appeals were considered by regional representatives of the Council last week before a final ratification by the national council on Tuesday. Letters were despatched yesterday.
The cuts generated unprecedented anger in the arts world. Last month at a packed Young Vic theatre, actors and directors passed a motion of no confidence in Council chief executive Peter Hewitt.
Reader views (1)
Why don't they halve the number of luvvies on the Arts Council payroll, and use the money for what it's intended - the Arts.
- Lezl, London, 04/02/2008 02:44
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