The Stage

Venue closures on cards, warns Equity chief

Published Thursday 27 May 2010 at 11:19 by Alistair Smith

Equity general secretary Christine Payne has warned of difficult times ahead for the theatre sector, claiming she expects to see more venues facing the threat of closure over the next year, as cuts to public sector funding begin to bite.

Payne was speaking at Equity’s annual representative conference, held in London at the weekend. She warned members that the problems facing subsidised theatres would have a knock-on effect to actors’ pay, claiming the union’s attempt to negotiate a £400 per week minimum pay deal for the subsidised repertory sector was likely to prove difficult because of the squeeze on those venues’ finances.

She said: “Our ongoing negotiations with the TMA on the subsidised repertory agreement are going to be exceptionally difficult.

“While we have achieved our target of £400 by 2011 in independent theatre, one of the main differences between those companies which use the Independent Theatre Council agreement and those which use the subsidised repertory agreement is that the latter tend to run buildings and have larger administration costs.

“And I really do fear that over the next year or so, we could see more theatres following the plight of Exeter Northcott and closing.”

For full coverage of the Equity ARC see next week’s print edition of The Stage