European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 07, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hard times for Britain a renowned Heaters. Editor s note a the curtain appears ready to come Down for Good at some prestigious British Heaters. A despite government subsidies Many playhouses can t. Make ends meet arid dozens of the smaller Heaters. Already have closed Over the past few years. Some theater executives admit to crying Wolf in years past but this time they say the crisis is real by Matt Wolf \ a 7,. Associated press the Liverpool playhouse the oldest repertory theater in England says it will close at the end of March unless emergency funds Are forthcoming. In Plymouth in Sou Agest England the theater Royal faces a mounting Defi despite sending buddy and shadowlands to Broad a. In London the Royal Shakespeare company sits dark until March 21, the victim of financial woes that forced a 4 i month suspension of rec productions in the capital. Up and Down the country playhouses sound the same alarm the British theater is in a state of crisis  re fighting to stay alive Quot says John stalker administrative director of the Liverpool playhouse. Quot i think there is a Good Chance the playhouse might  begun in 1911 As the Liverpool repertory theater the theater has an accumulated deficit of $1.1 million enough to wipe it out unless a Rescue package is arranged. The playhouse s turnover last year was $2.7 million. If the closing occurs it will be the most dramatic example so far of a trend that has already buried several Quot fringe Quot London Heaters and touring troupes East. London s half Moon theater and the Cay sweatshop company among them. Ten years ago the arts Council funded 90 Heaters in England today it supports 60, with local authorities picking up Only part of the Slack. A these losses Are being Felt. Quot i care because i was formed informed by the Liverpool playhouse a novels Beryl Bainbridge wrote in the times of London. Quot there something wrong with the notion that because something is tweaking Money or _ showing an instant return it ought to Badone away with Quot in other words should subsidized non a fit Heaters be expected to make a profit former prime minister Margaret Thatcher believed the arts like any other Endeavor should pay their own Way. The new prime minister John major has yet to address himself to the arts. ,. ,. While some Heaters have kept Pace with inflation relying on special sponsorship deals and Quot enhancement funds Quot from the arts Council others Are collapsing. Quot our Heaters were not built to he profit making Quot save Peter James artistic Dir actor of the financially strapped Lyric Hammersmith theater in West London. Quot they were built by local governments Tor prestige. Purposes. They Don t imply Cost it Yective  the Lyric Hammersmith has  of $400,000 and faces a Grant Cut of $ 190,120 As of the new financial year starting april 1. Quot. In the past the theater mounted six productions on its Mam stage and five in its Small studio. Now James says it produces five on the main stage and nothing in the studio relying on companies from outside to keep that space lit some observers dismiss such complaints seeing them As the perennial laments of a Community that will never be satisfied. In 1990-91, the government funded arts Council in England spenr$6.3.8 million on theater subsidies. The. Figure rises to $72.55 million for 1991-2. British theater remains the envy of the English speaking world encompassing hit musicals and farces As Well As a steady diet of serious plays and International classics which the american stage too olten shies away from. Quot there is something unseemly about this annual chorus wailing for More state alms to fill their begging bowls Quot critic Milton Srulman wrote in the evening Standard. The headline asked Quot theater crisis what theater crisis Quot Shulman warned against Heaters diverting their energies Quot on propaganda exercises about the proximity of the theater to the  others say the crisis this time is real. Quot we five to be quite honest cried Wolf in the last 10 years but British theater has been Able to just about carry on Quot says Mark Everett executive director of the Bristol old Vic theater in Western England. Quot one can t just about carry on  Everett s theater faces a deficit of $140,000, Small by comparison to others in the country. But he says the Impact is being Felt. A \ Quot we re not about to go insolvent or anything Quot he says. Quot the problem Here is philosophical How much longer can we go on looking at the Bristol old Vic As a one of a kind regional theater or should we actually pull Back in ambition and become a Small town repertory a. The two auditorium venue annually mounts an impressive array of classics and new plays. In 1989 it co produced with London s Royal National theater a successful production of Moliere s the misanthrope designed by Richard Hudson currently represented on Broadway with la Bete. Everett says the old Vic would rather reduce the number of productions than Compromise its Choice of work which this season includes Eugene o Neill s Long Heater in the red Bristol old Vic Grant $1,564,000 Mil. Deficit $140,000. Would like $ 2,000,000 Mil. Liverpool playhouse Grant $1,054,000 Mil deficit $1,200,00 Mil. Would like $ 2,000,000 Mil. Lyric theatre Hammersmith Grant $1,444,000 Mil. Deficit $400,000. Would like $2,000,000 Mil. Royal Shakespeare company Grant $13000,000 Mil. Deficit $6,000,000  like $19,800,000 i. A Dollar figures Are approximate 1.  de Gasero Day s journey into night with Timothy West and Prunella Scales. In 1991 it will stage six shows Down from nine or so four years ago. A a. I its studio theater has been closed for the last 18  Plymouth s theater Royal which faces a $776,000 deficit stays afloat by doing commercial work rather than new plays and classics that Don t attract crowds. Quot it gives us a Complete Lack of flexibility Quot says general manager Adrian Vinken. Quot we Daren t risk investment in new types of products we Don t have room to  some theater administrators refuse to be grim. Quot i Don t think anybody goes into the theater in this country without thinking it s a great act of Faith Quot says the. Lyric s Peter  we believe society will he sicker without us so there is something to fight  a 1984 production of Quot animal farm Quot at cot Esloe theater. February 7, 1991 stripes Magazine