The Rose Theatre in Kingston, which was founded by Sir Peter Hall has announced that the local theatre faces possible closure. This comes after the council, who fund the theatre notified their plans to withdraw support.
Annually, Kingston council contribute £265,000 to The Rose, and by 2022 plan to cut this. Chairman, Chris Foy said: “You have no idea how damaging your plans will be, to the theatre and to all those who benefit from the support you provide... The Rose is a charity. It is not a commercial theatre."
However, the Kingston Theatre Trust, which runs the Rose now faces criticism for not being commercial enough in regards to their programme and productions. And without contribution and investment from the council, the theatre would be forced to report a loss every year since its opening.
“We think they can act more commercially and become more efficient in the way they are run. No one is denying it is an asset. We want to work with them to look at how they use it."
“We face having to make savings and simply can’t afford to spend more than a quarter of a million each year on this. We have always said the theatre should be self-sustaining in the long term.”
- Lib-Dem council leader Liz Green
On the other side of this, Chris Foy is adamant that the theatre needs funding from the council. He said: “There is no simple model by means of which income from ticket sales or fundraising could simply be ‘turned up’, or the costs ‘turned down’ to compensate for the withdrawal of council support. If there were, we would have done it already.”
To help save The Rose, sign the petition here.
