Derby Playhouse given a fortnight to raise vital funds

Published Friday 1 February 2008 at 16:05 by Lalayn Baluch

Beleaguered Derby Playhouse is yet again facing closure, following Arts Council England’s decision to withdraw public subsidy from the venue.

The theatre, which has been in administration since last November, now has 14 days to raise the necessary funds to secure its long-term future.

According to Playhouse chair Jonathan Powers, ACE had cut the venue’s £723,000 annual grant because it did not consider the board’s business plan to be viable.

Powers explained: “We now have 14 days in which time to raise private funds to replace our dependence on both state funding and the local council tax payer.

“Bearing in mind that we are sitting on 94-year lease worth in the region of £5 million, to buy the business out of administration we can effect a privatisation of Derby Playhouse Ltd to continue its work of delivering fantastic theatre to the people of the city and the region.”

Since the Playhouse went dark for a week following a forced closure, Powers has been leading a consortium vying to take over its management. In December, the venue re-opened with the help of its administrators Tenon Recovery and a skeleton team of staff, despite having no funding.

In that time, Derby Playhouse Limited has raised £30,000 in public donations and £130,000 in additional sales from Christmas production Treasure Island - a show which exceeded box office targets by £30,000. It also achieved 15,000 signatures in campaign petitions.

However, according to ACE East Midlands executive director Laura Dyer, a review of the Playhouse led the funding council to conclude that the venue was not “the appropriate vehicle to invest public money into”. Instead it decided to invest in a new producing house, which will be run by Derby City Council.

Dyer said: “Our commitment to produced theatre in Derby; meaning new theatre made and staged in Derby, is not in question. We will be investing £2,289,135 over next three years into this work. The previous three years of regular funding to Derby Playhouse Ltd totalled £2,121,737, so this is an increase to produced theatre in Derby of over £167,000.”

Dyer explained that the Derby Playhouse board did not refute evidence provided by ACE as to why funding would be cut, but simply asserted that the organisation would deliver a new viable model - Derby Playhouse given a fortnight to raise vital funds an argument that the council was not convinced by. She also criticised the board for failing to provide assurance that a successful resolution of the problems facing that venue could be achieved.

She added: “We know this is going to resonate in Derby but we want people to know that we are committed to high quality theatre being produced in Derby for Derby people.”