Following the announcement of the latest round of grants from the government’s £1.57bn Cultural Recovery Fund, I’m pleased to share a statement from the Theatres Trust.
Jon Morgan, director of Theatres Trust, comments:
Theatres Trust welcomes the news that 16 of England’s nationally and regionally significant theatres will receive grants of over £1m in the latest round of the Culture Recovery Fund. This shows that the importance of these organisations socially, culturally and economically has been recognised. We are particularly pleased to see that theatres represent almost half of the latest grants awarded including regional theatrical powerhouses such Manchester Royal Exchange, Leeds Playhouse and Birmingham Rep, as well as major touring houses such as the Mayflower Southampton and Newcastle Theatre Royal.
Support for these theatres, along with over 300 other producing and touring theatres, large and small, across the country that have been supported in earlier rounds, means that over 1/3 of England’s theatres have benefitted from this vital lifeline.
We are still months away from the majority of theatres being able to reopen viably and many theatres are suffering the additional pressures of being in higher level lockdown areas. Alongside this much-needed support we urgently need to agree a set of mitigation measures that will allow theatres to welcome fuller audiences under current social distancing rules which will make it possible for more theatres to reopen and serve their communities again.