Blog: 2024 in review

As 2024 draws to a close, the Theatres Trust team reflects on the key events of the year and looks forward to our hopes for 2025.

2024 was a year of changes and challenges, both for the theatre sector and Theatres Trust itself.

Despite the cost-of-living and wider funding pressures continuing to impact theatre budgets, there have been positive reports of audience levels returning to pre-pandemic levels for many theatres. Although squeezed local authority budgets still impact theatres across the country, we continue to focus on the importance of ensuring our theatres are supported to be financially resilient in our conversations with local and national governments. The year did include more positive news including the Theatre Tax Relief, initially introduced in 2021, being made permanent in the Spring Budget.

We announced the 2024 Theatres at Risk list in January with two new additions (Abbeydale Picture House and Epstein Theatre) and have continued to champion all 39 buildings on the list throughout the year. This has included supporting groups working to revive their local theatres through our Resilient Theatres: Resilient Communities programme with capacity-building grants and bespoke training focused on developing fundraising skills. Steady progress continues at a number of Theatres at Risk, including Burnley Empire, Morecambe Winter Gardens and Leith Theatre. Unfortunately, there have been setbacks for some other theatres on the list, with Doncaster Grand sold to a new owner and planning applications for three theatres Brighton Hippodrome, Conwy Civic and Southport Garrick likely to result in the loss of these theatres.  

2024 was, of course, an election year, which has meant a new team in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, as well as a cohort of new MPs across the country. There has also been a significant change in personnel at Theatres Trust this year: In May, the Secretary of State for Culture appointed six new Trustees to our Board, and after eight incredible years of service as Theatres Trust’s Director, Jon Morgan stepped down earlier this month and we welcomed Joshua McTaggart as our new Director. In sadder news, we lost two long-standing Theatres Trust advocates this year: Theatres Adviser and former Vice-Chair Ruth Eastwood and former Director John Earl, both of whom had a huge impact on our organisation, our work and the wider theatre sector.

To pay tribute to Ruth, we established the Ruth Eastwood Bursary, which recognises theatre leaders in their first senior role who embodied Ruth’s spirit of collaboration, supportive management style and passionate advocacy for regional theatre. The bursary enabled the three chosen recipients to attend our conference, and alongside our usual bursary scheme for small theatres, ensured that a diverse range of theatres were represented at the conference.

This year’s conference, Making Theatres Thrive, took place outside of London for the first time in a decade, and The Lowry in Salford provided a perfect setting for the day’s discussions focused on the civic role theatres play for and with our communities. Alongside the change of location, we also worked with local theatres in Manchester to provide a series of behind-the-scenes venue tours the day after the conference, so delegates were treated to a closer look at Aviva Studios, Contact, HOME, Palace Theatre and Royal Exchange Theatre.

We continued our commitment to sustainability through our support for the Theatre Green Book as it gathered momentum and launched a second edition in June along with a range of tools aimed at supporting the UK theatre sector to reach net zero by 2030. In the autumn, Lilli Geissendorfer was appointed as Theatre Green Book Director and has already made great strides to increase the profile and adoption of the Theatre Green Book across the theatre industry.

Against this backdrop of change, we have tirelessly continued our committed work to supporting the future of UK’s theatres. More than 120 theatres benefited from our free advice service in 2024, on issues ranging from business planning and audience development through to more technical advice on Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and sustainability. Our advice team responded to 325 planning applications, listed building consultations and planning pre-applications, 80 local planning policy consultations and five national consultations.

This year, we received more than 150 applications to our three grant programmes, and we were able to fund 57 much-needed projects to improve environmental sustainability and accessibility, carry out critical repairs and build organisational resilience. Given the exceptionally challenging funding environment, we are extremely pleased that two of the principal funders for our grant programmes, the Wolfson Foundation and The Linbury Trust, have renewed their support, which will enable us to continue awarding these vital grants for the next three years.

Looking forward to 2025, our first event of the year will be the launch of the Theatres at Risk Register 2025 on Tuesday 28 January. Although being at risk is a challenging and difficult period for many of these theatres and support groups, this event provides an opportunity to highlight the potential for these venues, remind decision-makers of the theatres’ importance within their communities, and builds collegiate and collaborative relationships between ardent theatre supporters from all across the UK. We will also be helping to upskill organisations through the webinars and training in our Resilient Theatres: Resilient Communities programme, which enters its third year.  

Although 2024 was undoubtedly a challenging year for theatres across the country, this time of year provides us an opportunity to really reflect on how we, as Theatres Trust, can enter 2025 with renewed vigour and passion to deliver our mission to ensure that everyone across this country has access to exceptional live performance.

Joshua McTaggart says “In my first few weeks at the helm of this brilliant organisation, I have had the privilege to visit a number of theatres and share in our deep-rooted theatrical heritage of pantomime. Despite the difficulties going on outside the auditorium doors, the blissful few hours of catchy songs, awful jokes, and jubilant endings of each panto reinforced my belief that our theatres are the beating heart of our communities. As I think ahead to 2025, it is my new year’s resolution that our organisation will continue its dedicated work to ensure everyone, no matter who they are or where they live in this country, has the opportunity to discover the true joy that live theatre performance can bring them all year round.”

Photo credits:

• Cover image Capital Lightning Round at Conference 24. Photo by Mark Higgins, Corporate Photos
• Heritage Open Days at Burnley Empire, courtesy of Burnley Empire Trust
• Ruth Eastwood Bursary recipients with Joshua McTaggart. Photo by Mark Higgins, Corporate Photos
• Team at Tron Theatre, the 100th grant recipient from our Small Grants Programme with The Linbury Trust