Hampstead Theatre will remain open and continue its 63-year tradition of staging new plays - its board has pledged.
Their statement came after Artistic Director Roxana Silbert announced she was stepping down in the wake of a 100 per cent Arts Council funding cut.
Board members, including novelist Susie Boyt, newsreader Zeinab Badawi, and Taylor Wimpey chair Irene Dorner, said the shock loss of the £766,455 annual grant will mean seeking "significant, immediate" financial support from other sources, and "transition funding" from the Arts Council while they develop a new business model.
That will include fewer main stage productions of new plays, more co-productions, and seeking philanthropic support.
Citing the energy crisis, and a post-pandemic slump in theatregoing as further challenges, they said: "The ambition is to keep Hampstead Theatre open. To continue to create original theatre without creative restriction. To challenge, influence and shape the future of British Theatre."
In the short term, under the leadership of Executive Producer Greg Ripley-Duggan, all the new plays programmed for their downstairs space will go ahead - including transferring some to the main auditorium. The flagship INSPIRE programme under acclaimed writer Roy Williams will continue until March 2024, supporting 15 emerging playwrights annually.
In the long term they will continue to stage new writing Downstairs, and curate a programme of "new and contemporary" plays for the main stage.
"The success will be to see Hampstead Theatre continue as a creative hub where writers, directors and theatre-makers can flourish without fear of success or failure; a leading producing house in London’s dynamic theatre ecology, making a unique contribution to the UK and international theatre scene."
Hampstead Theatre was founded in 1959 in a Hampstead scout hall by the late James Roose-Evans and has championed award-winning new work by the likes of Harold Pinter, David Hare, Abi Morgan, Dennis Kelly and Mike Leigh.
Stephen Karam's Sons of the Prophet runs at Hampstead Theatre until January 14, with Alexis Michalik's The Art of Illusion running Downstairs from December 17 until January 28. https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/
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