The Stage

ACE reinstates £1m funding for Exeter’s Northcott

Published Tuesday 16 December 2008 at 16:35 by Lalayn Baluch

Arts Council England has confirmed that it will reinstate the funding of Exeter’s Northcott Theatre for the next two years with a grant of more than £1 million.

The venue was one of 200 arts organisations which was threatened with a total subsidy cut last year, following ACE’s controversial spending review. It stood to lose £547,000 annually from April 2009, despite the fact that it had just reopened after a £2.1 million development scheme.

The decision was reversed in February under the condition that the venue make urgent changes to its theatre programme and community work.

Now ACE, South West executive director Chris Humphrey has confirmed the Northcott will receive a grant from next April. He said: “The Northcott has been working hard to develop a business plan and artistic vision worthy of the level of investment we are making.

“This means that we are now confident that we are investing public money wisely. Over the next two years, the Northcott Theatre and the people of Exeter and further afield will benefit from this funding which will enable the theatre to present a wide range of exciting theatre.”

In October, the theatre unveiled plans for a radical shake-up designed to “revitalise” the venue, which would also lead to four staff redundancies and see a “creative director” replace artistic director Ben Crocker, who left in August.

At the time, chief executive Kate Tyrell, who was appointed earlier this year with a specific brief to reorganise the Northcott, stressed that the proposals were not a response to the funding crisis which the theatre faced at the end of last year.