Derby Playhouse appeals for help

Open letter

Dear Colleague

You may have read or heard the news that Derby Playhouse was closed for ten days, but is back open and trading in administration.

It has been an extraordinary ten days, but we have been heartened by the massive local and national support that we have received, and by the outpouring of relief to the news of our re-opening.

It appears we are in dangerous times for regional theatre, with four others either closed or under threat of closure that I know of. I wanted to give you all an insight into what is going on at Derby.

The Playhouse is in difficulties due to the horrendous trading environment caused by the £350 million pound Westfield development that has surrounded it for the past two and a half years. During September as the building work escalated prior to the centre opening trade was down by almost £20,000 per week  unsustainable in most businesses, but particularly one as fragile as a regional theatre.

The Playhouse has a cashflow crisis. It asked for help from both its major funders. The Arts Council agreed to help and advanced part of our grant with a promise of more if the City Council also helped. The City refused to advance part of its last grant payment by six weeks, even though it knew by doing so it would be forcing the theatre to close.

On Wednesday 28th November a loan of £282,000 offered by Stephen Edwards Creative Producer- to keep the theatre afloat was rejected by the trustees. The amount offered by Stephen was four times the amount needed to keep the company solvent. The Council apparently told the trustees that if they accepted the loan the venue would not receive another penny of grant. Why the trustees rejected an offer of cash to keep going, to enable them to receive a grant we couldn't trade long enough to receive is just one of many unanswered questions.

On Thursday 29th November Derby Playhouse was taken into voluntary liquidation by the theatre's trustees, closing the theatre with immediate effect. The entire staff, together with the cast and crew made a stand by doing a last show to ensure that the theatre closed with a performance on the stage not a City Councillor telling them that the theatre was shut and no show would ever take place on the stage again.

Earlier that day Stephen Edwards injected £70,000 of his personal money as a gift into the business to ensure that the staff were paid. He did this after trustees insisted that the money accrued for the staff salaries was spent on paying lawyer and accountants bills for advice about whether or not to continue to trade. This injection of cash meant that the trustees tried to liquidate a solvent company  hence we are now in administration.

It should not be possible for a National Asset to be kicked over but that is exactly what happened. We were given the news of closure by the editor of the local paper, who had received a press release from the City Council to that effect  it gives a new twist to the stories you hear of people being made redundant by text message or email.

At Derby the theatre is being kept open by the collective will of the staff, creative team and cast. As a management we are backed by the Administrators, who have allowed us back into the building to continue to trade and to put together a business plan to go forward. The Management is also being backed by three ex-Chairs of the Board, who are currently putting together a new Trust with a new Board of Directors.

As of Saturday 8th December Derby Playhouse is open for business again.

But it needs your support today.

The Playhouse is trading in administration, which means that it is controlled by accountants who specialise in businesses in difficulty. The administrators will either:

Close the Playhouse and sell all its assets or hand it back to the management to continue. This will be decided based upon the number of tickets The Playhouse sells between now and Christmas.

So to save Derby Playhouse please do three of three things:

1. Phone the box office today and book tickets to Treasure Island  01332 363275.
   If you cannot come to Derby to see the show, please still buy a ticket. It will make a difference to our survival. This is not about numbers of people in the auditorium  this is about sales!

   Actors, directors, writers, producers and designers have already done this, from all parts of the globe. If you know you won't be using your ticket  let us know and we can re-sell it or donate the seat to our HOT TICKETS groups.

2. Write to the Leader of Derby City Council  Chris Williamson, and tell him how important theatre's like Derby Playhouse are. He doesn't appear to understand.

   Derby City Council, The Council House, Corporation Street, Derby DE1 2FS or by email to [email protected]

   Please copy your letter to Margaret Beckett MP c/o the House of Commons. She is the theatre's MP and is very supportive. We need her to appreciate how much support there is out there for theatre's such as ours.

3. Send this email to everyone you know who cares about live theatre and ask them to do the same.

Thank you in advance for your continued support.

Karen Hebden
Chief Executive