Arts Council England unveiled on November 4 its investment program for the next three years, a plan that will change funding for many performing arts venues. Among the companies with planned funding cuts are the National Theatre, which will lose over 拢850,000; the Royal Opera House, which will lose nearly 拢3 million; and the Donmar Warehouse, which will lose its entire grant of over 拢500,000, .
The shakeup in funding is part of an effort to redistribute arts funding toward areas outside of London. According to Arts Council England's Director of Music Claire Mera-Nelson, in a November 10, "the government increased our funding at the recent Spending Review to benefit areas outside London, and at the same time instructed us to increase investment in the rest of the country by 拢24 million per annum by 2026. This has meant we have had to make some difficult decisions, particularly in London."
Some companies based outside of London, such as English Touring Opera, will see an increase in their investment, although other such companies, such as Glyndebourne and Welsh National Opera, which also received funding for their touring, will lose money. Still other companies, such as Shakespeare North Playhouse, and the Buxton Opera House, home to the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, will receive funding for the first time.
English National Opera, as a result of the change in funding, has begun to look at moving its headquarters outside of London, "potentially in Manchester," according to a put out by the company, which will lose its 拢12.6 million annual grant, and will instead receive 拢17 million over the next three years鈥攁 net loss of approximately 拢7 million per year.
As reported by the BBC, Sam Mendes, founding artistic director of the newly-defunded Donmar Warehouse, called the move "short-sighted." Rufus Norris and Kate Varah of the National Theatre said in a "while a reduction to our ACE funding will present challenges, we remain committed to creating and sharing outstanding live and digital theatre with audiences nationally and globally."
The full 2023-2026 investment plan can be viewed on .
