When Lesley Manville was working as an actor in the 1980s, there was ample opportunity for her to work on stage and plenty of choices of shows for audiences to watch. But slowly, over the decades, she has sadly watched theatre after theatre close.
It comes as theatre owners across the country have told The Independent of how they are worrying every day about underfunding putting their theatres at risk. As they struggle to keep their venues afloat, regional theatre might be facing its final act.
Ms Manville called for better funding for theatres around the UK as she accepted Best Actress at the Olivier Awards for her role in Oedipus at the Wyndham Theatre, London.
“There is not enough money thrown into regional theatre,” she said as she picked up the award.
She would later tell BBC’s Today programme: “It’s tragic because those theatres serve their communities. Sometimes, travelling to go see a play, or a ballet, or an opera, might be prohibitive.
“And certainly from a performance point of view, there’s less opportunity to work. When I was younger, you went anywhere to do a play. It’s going to be a diminishing discipline because there’s not always the amount of stage work available for them to go and do. The arts has to be, for our sanity, continued to be funded.”
The two-time Olivier winner isn’t the only actor concerned about the demise of regional theatres. Shereener Browne, soon to appear at Chichester Regional Theatre in The Government Inspector, said regional theatres are vital to the ecosystem of the arts.
“If we do not fund them properly and allow them to flourish, then actors emerging, and more established actors too, do not get the opportunity to flourish – to take risks with their arts and their creativity, which then is fed up the ecosystem to the larger theatres and the West End,” she told The Independent.
“I think the risk is that we will have a reduced number of creatives to feed the West End machine, which is huge.
“But more importantly and more potentially disastrous, we will lose the stories. we will lose those people who tell the stories that connect what’s going on onstage to the audience. I mean, it’s all very well and good for us to have Mamma Mia, but really what people want to see are stories that resonate with them and are relatable. And those will reduce massively in numbers if we do not fund the writers, producers, directors, and actors to make and create in these smaller spaces. It’s all connected.”
A survey by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre in 2024 warned that without urgent investment, nearly 40 per cent of UK theatre buildings risk closure. Meanwhile, there are 43 theatres currently at risk of closing in 2025 – an increase of five from the year before, according to the Theatres Trust.
Kathy Bourne, executive director of Chichester Festival Theatre, said: “I worry about it every day.”
Underfunding has meant her theatre has had to be far more selective when it comes to taking on new work, she said, asking: “How much risk can we take with new work?
“[Regional theatres are] brilliant organisations to deliver new work because we are here to support the development of it.”
Ms Bourne’s biggest fear is that if funding is cut, Chichester Festival Theatre will have to cut its learning, education and participation work. It currently runs the largest youth theatre in the country for more than 900 children.
“They’re the audiences of tomorrow,” she said. “If we lose them, we’re nowhere.”
The theatre is being forced to fundraise and campaign to continue bursary funding for 23 per cent of the children in its youth theatre who would not otherwise have the opportunity to be a part of that group.
The UK ranked among the lowest in Europe for government spending on culture in 2024, according to the Campaign for the Arts and the University of Warwick in 2024. It was one of the few nations to cut per capita funding between 2010 and 2022.
SOLT and UK Theatre reported in February that if theatres could access the investment they need, 54 per cent could provide more jobs for their local communities and 62 per cent would increase or improve their outreach for work.
Stephanie Sirr, president of UK Theatre and chief executive of Nottingham Playhouse, said current underfunding could lead to an “existential situation”.
“I think the theatre sector is so inventive and creative and able to do more with less, that people have forgotten that there will be a bottom point where nothing can be done,” she added.
“It’s risking an awful lot for a tiny proportion of public spending, and that’s my worry. It’s a lot of benefit for a tiny investment, and what you would lose if you lost it [theatres] is absolutely extraordinary.”
Chris Stafford, chief executive of Leicester Curve, has said the “standstill” in public funding has meant theatres are unable to build reserves to invest in their theatre.
For the Curve Theatre, he warned: “There’s only so long that we can carry on without a real urgent injection of cash that will be required, and I look over the next five years, we need at least five million pounds to put into this building.
“I look at our theatre, it is a community hub. It’s a hub for many people who live, work, and learn on our doorstep, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that I keep this theatre standing as tall and strong as it can.”
SOLT and UK Theatre have called for the government to invest £500 million over four years in theatre buildings and venues to address urgent repairs in order to prevent closures. They said it would unlock at least another £500 million in additional private investment, delivering value for money and creating jobs.
Mr Stafford said: “I really do believe it’s real investment because there is absolutely the public purse is getting bang for its buck in terms of the economic impact of what we do.”
A DCMS spokesperson said:”We’re under no illusions about the financial issues facing the culture sector and are committed to supporting them during this difficult time.
“More than £150 million of lottery and tax payer money went to theatres last year alone and we are ensuring that theatres are able to thrive across the country through our recently announced £85 million Creative Foundations Fund, which is part of the £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund, and will support urgent capital works at theatres and venues across England.”
