Grant Cuts Hit English Theatres
Over 200 venues around England will be affected by the Arts Council's decision to alter their current grant system. When London won the race to host the 2012 Olympic Games it was announced in March 2007 that the Arts Council England would have over £100 million of funding cut. Despite a £50m boost that the Arts Council received in October, there will still be more than 200 art venues either having their funding reduced or withdrawn completely.
In contrast to the majority of cases, there will be new funding available to 81 venues that would previously have not received any Arts Council grants. Many of the theatres affected will face uncertain futures as they attempt to adjust and find private funding. An example of this was the Derby Playhouse who were given two weeks to find a private investor when it had its £700,000 funding cut.
The news of the impending grant cuts has caused much dissent amongst the actors' union, Arts Council England and the National Theatre. During a meeting between Equity, the actors' union and the chief executive of Arts Council England Peter Hewitt, the union accused the council of making poor decisions based on misguided judgment.
Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, singled out London's Bush Theatre and the National Student Drama Festival as two of the most popular possible casualties. The Drama Festival will lose its £52,000 grant because the Arts Council believe that students should study in further and higher education.
The debate over the Arts Council's grant allocation looks set to continue as more theatres become affected by the changes. Although many venues will be receiving funding above the rate of inflation, there will be inevitable casualties with almost 200 having their funding withdrawn. Only time will tell whether this brave decision is successful for the Arts Council England, but the knives are out already over the handling of the situation.
Published by: James Pickard
