Theatres at Risk 2018 Press

Notes to Editors

Theatres at Risk Register 2018

There are 35 buildings on the Theatres at Risk Register 2018. Theatres Trust launches its 2018 Register at Soho Theatre on 23 January 2018 at 10.30am - 12.30. The event is kindly sponsored by Integro Entertainment & Sport Insurance Brokers, theatre insurance brokers, and hosted by Soho Theatre.

If you would like a press pass to the event please email: press@theatrestrust.org.uk.

Download the Theatres Trust Theatres at Risk Register 2018 List, map and risk criteria

Our work with Theatres at Risk goes right to the heart of what we do – protecting theatres for everyone. We work with local groups, theatre operators and local authorities up and down the country to help find creative and sustainable solutions either to restore and reopen these buildings or to keep their buildings open.

The annual launch of the Register is aimed at highlighting and raising the profile of those theatre buildings we consider to be most at risk across the UK.

These theatres are assets to the local community; economic drivers for job creation and for the night time economy; and place makers. They should be viewed not as theatres at risk but as buildings of opportunity.

Notes on Register 

  1. This year’s Register sees a greater emphasis placed on the Community Value category which establishes the community demand for the retention and protection of a theatre, and it makes an assessment of the viability of the building as a performance venue.
  2. The Register sees two new additions this year, the Theatre Royal, Margate and Streatham Hill Theatre, London. The Theatre Royal in Margate was removed from the Register in 2012 when the council agreed to temporarily subsidise it but it has been re-added. A theatre operator has recently been appointed as the Council’s preferred partner for the operation of the building. However there is a need for a considerable capital works project to restore the venue and provide cross-subsidising facilities to sustain the theatre’s ongoing operation. Significant capital funding is required and yet to be secured, which leaves the future of the theatre in doubt.
  3. The second theatre new to this year’s Register is Streatham Hill Theatre, a building that has been monitored by the Theatres Trust for many years. The Grade II listed Sprague theatre is now under threat after the main bingo operation within the building closed.
  4. There are three removals from the 2018 Register, all of which involve demolition, though two of the buildings - Colwyn Bay Pier Pavilion and the Royal Victoria Hall in Southborough - have new performance venues planned, with the Theatres Trust working with the groups concerned to ensure the most practical solution is achieved. The third removal from the list is the Futurist Theatre in Scarborough where the council has approved demolition of the building - a huge loss to the local community and to future generations of Scarborough residents. The c. £4 million price tag to demolish the theatre, a complex operation as it supports the cliff face beyond, sees the building replaced by an empty site, a cost that could have seen a restored and reopened venue. The contractor has taken possession on the site and enabling works are now underway with demolition programmed to commence in March 2018.
  5. It is our ambition to remove theatres from the Register because they have been saved and we work with campaign groups, operators and councils to try to achieve this. Many theatres on the Register have made significant advances through partnership but remain on the Register until long-term viability can be assured. For example, although Alexandra Palace Theatre currently has works on site to reactivate the space, the Park and Palace Trust have yet to achieve their capital fundraising target.
  6. Eighty years after its original reopening Peterborough Broadway is operational again after a local Charitable Trust secured a 20 year lease on the building. The Broadway is currently programmed up until 2019. Theatres Trust initially challenged an application to turn the building into a residential site on the grounds that the application failed to demonstrate that The Broadway was not viable as a cultural venue, and the Theatres Trust is currently offering the new operator advice and support for the continued sustainable operation of the venue.
  7. Dudley Hippodrome has seen its local authority allowing the Friends group to take control of the building in an attempt to bring it back to operational use. However, the length of the lease issued - only five years – has meant that the Friends have not been able to leverage funding. The group are in discussions with the council to extend the lease. Should the discussions prove unsuccessful the building could once more be under threat of demolition. Over past years Theatres Trust has been active in persuading the council not to demolish the building. We are currently engaging with the council in discussions over the lease, and are supporting the Friends group with their business planning.
  8. The Secombe and the Charles Cryer in Sutton have been closed since 2016 following the operator going into administration. Whilst it was hoped that the London Borough of Sutton would consider bids to reopen the theatres, the council will only offer the buildings on a commercial lease. Their closure makes Sutton the only London borough now without a theatre. Theatres Trust believe these theatres could be saved through offering a peppercorn lease to a community operator, and have been in discussions with the council to highlight the importance of the economic and community benefits of retaining the theatres. Buildings such as these can bring positive value to the community economically, as well as have an impact on placemaking.
  9. Success stories on the Register include the Odeon/New Victoria, Bradford with the future of the venue looking positive. Theatres Trust has previously challenged an application to demolish the building and provided ongoing support to campaign groups and local authorities. Bradford Live, the group behind the restoration of the theatre have recently announced the NEC Group International (part of Birmingham’s NEC Group) as their operating partner. NEC have taken on a 30 year lease and will be contributing £2 million towards the conversion costs. The council has been very supportive of Bradford Live both in backing of funding applications and in providing some capital towards urgent repairs. In December 2017 the Council Executive agreed ‘in principle’ to provide a £12 million loan to Bradford Live towards the anticipated £20 million restoration costs.
  10.  Soho Theatre, London has also been working with the owners of Walthamstow Granada to create a high quality proposal for a new comedy and theatre venue in the former cine-variety building. This is an area of London where Soho Theatre are already actively involved in a community education programme for young people, and the London Borough of Waltham Forest is supportive of Soho’s ambition. The building would provide a new performance space for the Borough of Waltham Forest which does not currently have a major permanent theatre or performance space.
  11. Other theatres on the Register actively considering their viability and developing business plans, or undertaking options appraisals, include Brighton Hippodrome, Swansea Palace, Burnley Empire, Spilsby Theatre, Salford Victoria and Leith Theatre, Edinburgh. Once achieved, these should bolster campaign groups’ confidence, and provide evidence to local authorities and communities, that the theatres have a viable future and should be supported. 
  12.  More information on other theatres on the Register theatrestrust.org.uk/how-we-help/theatres-at-risk (The full Register 2018 and information sheets for each theatre on it will be available publicly online on 23 January 2018).

Images

Key images of theatres mentioned above can be downloaded from dropbox.com/sh/jwxiyavalctnwa7/AABYGgOS-PwRG6iu__AWlmpLa?dl=0 More are being added Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18.

For all other images please contact the Theatres Trust.

Media Contacts

Kate Carmichael. Theatres Trust, Communications Coordinator, kate.carmichael@theatrestrust.org.uk T 020 7836 8591

Mary Rahman, MRPR, Press & PR Consultant, maryrahmanMRPR@gmail.com, T 07958 399740