The Stage

University of Exeter to reopen Northcott

Published Tuesday 25 May 2010 at 15:31 by Alistair Smith

Exeter’s Northcott Theatre is to reopen - at least in the short term - with a new company set up by the University of Exeter taking over the venue.

The move means that the theatre will go ahead with the Exeter Summer Festival and a proposed winter programme, including a Christmas show. However, the new company will only operate until March 31.

According to a statement issued by the university: “By then, the Northcott’s stakeholders - Arts Council England, Exeter City Council and the university - will know what funds they have at their future disposal following expected cutbacks in public funding by the new government. The three organisations have agreed to keep their funding at current levels until March 31, 2011 provided they don’t suffer budget cuts this year and that an acceptable programme of activity can be set out for the remainder of the financial year. The eventual aim will be, subject to funding, to set up an independent company to run the Northcott.”

The Northcott is currently in administration and the intention is to transfer control to the university on May 29. The administrator will retain a number of assets, including rehearsal space Emmanuel Hall, which will be sold to contribute to creditors. The university will buy the theatre’s fixtures and fittings from the administrator and already owns the building. Meanwhile, the theatre’s current skeleton staff of 15 will become employees of the new company.

Jeremy Lindley, the university’s director of corporate services, said the university had stepped in with the agreement of the other stakeholders to keep the theatre operational. He added: ‘The move to a university-owned company gives the Northcott the best chance of achieving a sustainable future.

“However, we have to be realistic about the funding environment we are now entering. All three of the Northcott’s stakeholders are publicly funded organisations and there is a very strong likelihood we will have less public funds at our disposal in the future. Nevertheless, we are all committed to keeping the theatre going if we possibly can.”

ACE, South West director Phil Gibby added: ‘The arrangements we have agreed regarding the short term future of the Northcott represent a positive step forward and, although all the stakeholders face financial uncertainties in the future, we are hopeful that we have now achieved a platform from which the Northcott can move forward with confidence.”