Theatre Royal under threat following plans to cut arts and culture sector funding
The Theatre Royal, in Bury St Edmunds, is under threat after the county council announced that they will be cutting investment in the Arts and Culture sector from April next year.
That means that it leaves the much used playhouse just over 12 months to plan for a £100,000 reduction in funding.
The theatre’s funding from Suffolk County Council is entirely invested in their Community Engagement programmes supporting the county’s most vulnerable residents.
This cut comes at a time when venues are still recovering from the effects of the Covid 19 closure and the current economic climate.
Artistic director Owen Calvert-Lyons said: “Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds has played a vital role in West Suffolk for 200 years. The proposed cut from Suffolk County Council poses a very real threat.
“Local authority budgets are under extreme pressure and we understand that councils are having to make difficult decisions but ceasing to invest in arts and culture is short-term thinking.
“At Theatre Royal we deliver after-school drama clubs, teach literacy projects in schools, provide spaces for the elderly to stay warm over winter – these were all once the work of local authorities.
“Our services and those of the wider arts and culture sector represent fantastic value for money.
“These cuts will have a major impact on our theatre and the savings generated are miniscule compared to the value of our cultural offer.
“Ultimately this is about quality of life. Suffolk has always been a great place to live because of the work of organisations like ours. Without arts and culture Suffolk will be a far poorer place to live.
“If you are a Suffolk resident I urge you to contact your local councillor to express your concern at these cuts.”
In April last year Theatre Royal became part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio of cultural organisations. The investment from Suffolk County Council underpins the ACE funding and could not be replaced.
Roger Quince, chair of Theatre Royal’s board of trustees fears for the impact on employees.
He said: “This is really bad news. We have made great strides in recent years not just in overcoming the problems created by Covid but in reaching many disadvantaged groups within the communities we serve.
“Much of this work has been funded by the county council whose contribution we have been able to leverage with matched funding from other sources. These sources themselves may now be threatened. With a small staff team of only 25, who have worked tirelessly over the past few years to recover from Covid and get Theatre Royal back on its feet, the loss of county council investment will be devastating for all of us.”
Theatre Royal is the only producing theatre in West Suffolk, reaching 85,000 audience members each year and this planned loss of funding will impact on Theatre Royal’s crucial work in the community.
Over the past five years the theatre has reached over 300,000 people through their performing arts and creative learning offers.
Their annual Doorstep Festival has toured high quality theatre to schools across rural Suffolk reaching over 10,000 primary school pupils and their year-round Youth Theatre provides a creative education programme for young people aged six to 22 from all backgrounds, particularly those who are learning disabled and neurodivergent through the SENsory Youth Theatre programme. Their Tiny Plays, BIG IDEAS programme, has taught over one thousand primary school children to write their first play.
Through close partnerships with specialist organisations such as Women’s Aid, Bury Drop-In, Suffolk Young Carers, GeeWizz, Mind, Age UK, Julian Support, Suffolk Artlink, The Mix in Stowmarket, the Benjamin Foundation in Thetford and The Hub in Mildenhall, Theatre Royal has specialised in working with vulnerable people to make their voices heard through performing arts.
Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for Finance and Environment said that in order to ensure appropriate levels of funding for key services such as adult and children’s care and those most in need in Suffolk the authority must make difficult decisions about all the other services it delivers and how it delivers them.
My tax shouldn’t pay for this business. It is not a profiteering enterprise. I am glad the Councillor highlighted the need for funding adult and children’s care.