The Stage

ACE cuts force Manchester Greenroom to close

Published Wednesday 20 April 2011 at 12:25 by Adam Baker

Manchester’s Greenroom has become one of the first major casualties of Arts Council England cuts, announcing it will close its doors to the public in May after it had its subsidy axed last month.

The Greenroom’s board announced that, as the theatre had been told it would not be part of ACE’s National Portfolio from 2012/13 onwards, the space would shut by the end of next month.

A statement issued by the theatre said: “We would like to have continued but are unable to do this without confirmed funding or alternative income going forward.”

Founded in 1983, the Greenroom includes a 200-seat black-box theatre, a rehearsal studio, an exhibition space and a cafe/bar.

Its statement continued: “Greenroom, since its inception, has been at the forefront of discovering and pioneering Manchester, national and international ‘firsts’. We have been consistently committed to developing and presenting new and experimental performance, and more recently supporting and enabling artists at the start of their careers to be innovative, take risks and experiment with new ideas.

“Our aim is to ensure that this important work continues through other organisations and individual artists/artist companies, producers and promoters. We are working with the arts council to provide information for people interested in the future production of this work and this will be available shortly on request.”

The theatre said it regretted finding itself in this situation and thanked well-wishers who had posted messages of support on its website.

“The current board and staff feel proud and privileged to have been part of the Greenroom, and we’d like to thank everyone – including artists, audiences and partners – who have contributed to its rich history, and particularly to those who have at some point called Greenroom ‘home’.”

The venue was one of 206 arts companies that held regularly funded organisation status that had all support removed as part of ACE’s funding decisions last month. The Greenroom used to receive more than £300,000 annually from the arts council and was one of the largest organisations to be completely cut by ACE.

No one from the Greenroom was available for further comment.