Festival Theatre – Page 2 – The NEN

More support for Capital Theatres

Three charitable arts organisations will receive a share of £3 million of additional funding as part of the ongoing emergency coronavirus (COVID-19) support for culture.

Capital Theatres – which operates the Festival Theatre, the King’s Theatre and The Studio in Edinburgh – will receive £800,000.

Aberdeen Performing Arts – which runs His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen Music Hall and The Lemon Tree – will receive £1.4 million.

Eden Court Highlands – Scotland’s largest single-site arts venue – will receive £800,000.

The funding is part of the £185 million package of targeted COVID-19 funding announced by the Scottish Government last month.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “This funding will help to secure the future of three of Scotland’s important independent performing arts charities, protecting jobs and addressing some of the financial pressures they are facing.

“These venues all receive UK and international touring work of major scale, make a significant contribution to the economy and support a network of arts organisations, artists and creatives at the heart of our cities and regions.

“The Scottish Government has allocated more than £120 million of additional funding to support culture and heritage since the start of the pandemic and we will continue to listen to the needs of the sectors.”

Chief Executive of Aberdeen Performing Arts Jane Spiers said: “This funding will go a long way towards helping us survive, thrive and play our part in the cultural and economic recovery of the North-East.

As an arts charity with a high reliance on earned income and over 500 show cancellations to date through 2021 and into 2022, it provides us with a vital lifeline.

“This new funding recognises the unique scale of the challenge facing large scale theatres and concert halls, the significance of culture to the region’s economic future and the vital role Aberdeen Performing Arts plays in civic, cultural and community life.

“We wouldn’t be here today without all the financial support we’ve been able to access to date from the Scottish Government, from our local authority and generous donations from audiences. It means more than words can say. We can’t wait to welcome everyone back when it’s safe to do so.”

This additional support takes the overall emergency COVID-19 funding from the Scottish Government to £2.38 million for Aberdeen Performing Arts, £2.07 million for Eden Court Highlands and £1.55 million for Capital Theatres.

Lottery cash to keep capital’s theatres afloat

Capital Theatres, Scotland’s largest theatre charity, has received £168,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support its three venues – Festival Theatre, King’s Theatre and The Studio, through this period of closure.

This vital funding, which will help maintain the iconic buildings in a safe condition, has been made possible thanks to National Lottery players.

This funding from the Heritage Emergency Fund will go towards covering essential costs such as electricity, gas, IT, insurance and maintenance of the theatres whilst they are closed. It will also go towards a small element of staff salaries for those who are responsible for ensuring the venues are secure and maintained whilst closed, and who will plan how we can adapt our venues to safely reopen our venues when we are allowed to do so.

At least 90% of Capital Theatres’ income is generated from ticket sales and trading income, meaning that the sudden closure meant an immediate loss of the two main sources of income.

To date Capital Theatres has refunded 52,900 tickets with a value of over £2.5m. The postponement of the panto until 2021 will result in a further £2.3m loss of income.

It is currently campaigning to receive emergency support to the same level as other publicly supported theatres which would allow Capital Theatres to play its part in the renewal solution for Edinburgh and Scotland.

Beyond its 3 key venues the organisation provides local community health and wellbeing benefits through an extensive programme currently adapted to run virtually, delivers a key element of Edinburgh’s year-round cultural offer for local citizens and retains 230 jobs in the city’s cultural sector.

Kate Smith, Director of Development at Capital Theatres said: “Capital Theatres, Scotland’s largest theatre charity, is responsible for the Festival Theatre, King’s Theatre and the Studio. When we closed our venues in March due to Covid-19 we saw a 90% reduction in our income from loss of ticket sales.

“This vital funding from the Heritage Emergency Fund will help maintain our buildings in a safe condition. On behalf of everyone at Capital Theatres we would like to thank National Lottery Players.”

The funding, made possible by National Lottery players, was awarded through The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund. £50million was made available to provide emergency funding for those most in need across the heritage sector.

The UK-wide fund aimed to address both immediate emergency actions and help organisations to start thinking about recovery.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, supporting economic regeneration and benefiting our personal wellbeing. All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.

“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisations such as Capital Theatres during this uncertain time.”

Like Capital Theatres, other charities and organisations across the UK that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus outbreak are being given access to a comprehensive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from The National Lottery.

This money is supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and span the arts, community, charity, heritage, education, environment and sports sectors.

Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for good causes, including heritage of local and national importance. By playing The National Lottery, people up and down the country are making an amazing contribution to the nationwide-response to combatting the impact of COVID-19 on local communities across the UK.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund is now closed for applications.

To find out more about how The National Heritage Emergency Fund is supporting the sector at this time please visit:

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/responding-coronavirus-covid-19

To find out more about the National Lottery Good Causes, visit:

www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/coronavirus-pandemic-response

Edinburgh Theatres to close

A STATEMENT FROM CAPITAL THEATRES

We would like to reassure our customers that we are closely monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and adhering to guidance issued.

The advice of the Scottish Government is that events involving more than 500 people should not take place, with effect from Monday 16 March 2020. This applies to mass events across all sectors – including sporting events, cultural events, and religious gatherings.

Capital Theatres can announce that we will be cancelling or postponing all performances at the Festival Theatre, The Kings Theatre and The Studio throughout March and April as an initial measure. This will come into effect from Monday 16 2020 at 12 noon.

Customers who have tickets for performances during March and April will automatically receive a full refund over the coming weeks. Our box office staff will contact customers directly if there are any issues, please bear with us as we work through the refund process at this challenging time.

We are currently working to reschedule cancelled performances to dates in the autumn and will keep all customers up-to-date as quickly as possible regarding this.

Please refer to our website and social channels for further updates over the coming weeks.

We greatly appreciate the support of our audiences at this testing and anxious time. It is a fast-moving situation; we are monitoring it closely and will keep you posted. We are hopeful that things will get back to normal soon and we hope to see you return in the not too distant future, stay safe.

FUSE event at Festival Theatre

There’s an Open Day at the Festival Theatre on Nicolson Street for care experienced families on Sunday February 1st.

This is an opportunity to take part in a FREE takeover day with a host of arts activities to engage the whole family. Light buffet lunch will also be provided.

If you would like any more information, please contact Cat Sheridan on catrin.sheridan@capitaltheatres.com

Glue attacks at city centre venues

Police Edinburgh are appealing for information following vandalism attacks on the National Museum of Scotland and the nearby Festival Theatre.

The incidents took place in the Museum last Friday (24 January) and again the following day, while a similar attack has since been reported at the Festival Theatre on Nicholson Street.

In all of the incidents glue was applied to areas of the venues’ toilets.

Inspector Trish Robertson, of the West End Community Policing Team, said: “Thankfully nobody has been seriously injured as a result of these incidents, however these thoughtless acts were extremely irresponsible and could have potentially harmed young children.

“Officers are conducting a thorough investigation and I would urge anyone with any information, of who may have seen something suspicious, to contact Police via 101, quoting incident 2808 of 27 January.”

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Exquisite tailoring and elegant Edwardian silhouettes will be taking over Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre as Edinburgh College Costume students display their work in a new exhibition opening next week. Continue reading Costume for Stage and Screen students bring Edwardian style to Festival Theatre

Old Town partnership takes centre stage with new conference destination

TWO of Edinburgh’s most iconic Old Town institutions are joining forces in a move that is set to deliver a multi-million-pound boost into the heart of the city. The prestigious Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) and the Festival Theatre are pooling their resources to create a one-stop ‘large conference destination’ with unrivalled character – utilising the best qualities of some of the capital’s finest settings. Continue reading Old Town partnership takes centre stage with new conference destination