Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond and other venues need more support – Angela Harris

LIKE many small communities up and down the country, you will find a wealth of remarkable cultural and creative activities in my beautiful market town of Richmond at the top of the Yorkshire Dales.
What more can be done to support venues like the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond?What more can be done to support venues like the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond?
What more can be done to support venues like the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond?

We have dozens of groups that our citizens can join, from choirs and orchestras to writers’ groups, painters, potters and dancers — all tastes are catered for.

It is remarkable to me that a town of only 8,500 should have so many creative people wanting to express themselves in so many diverse ways.

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In particular we have our internationally famous Georgian Theatre Royal, a Grade I listed building built in 1788, the oldest working theatre in its original form in the UK.

Renovation work at the Georgian Theatre Royal at Richmond.Renovation work at the Georgian Theatre Royal at Richmond.
Renovation work at the Georgian Theatre Royal at Richmond.

Knowing that the House of Lords was going to take the creative sector, I wanted to know how the theatre had fared during this terrible time and, interestingly, it has fared pretty well.

Having been given a hugely generous donation from a marvellous benefactor, it was beautifully restored during lockdown, which enabled it then to open once restrictions on theatres had been lifted.

During lockdown, though, it was helped by the Culture Recovery Fund, for which we were enormously grateful. That paid around £78,000 for items such as maintenance, insurance and utilities.

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Then of course there was the job retention scheme, which paid the salaries of the small number of people employed at the theatre, which, by the way, has only 155 seats.

The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond is one of Yorkshire's gems.The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond is one of Yorkshire's gems.
The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond is one of Yorkshire's gems.

In a way, if there were to be a good time for the theatre to be closed, one could say that this was it. However, without the help from the recovery fund and the furlough scheme, it might well have been a very different story.

However, it is not all roses. Most venues, all over the country, may have survived, but actually putting on a production is much more problematic. Because they received little help with their finances, many smaller venues have had to close permanently.

Certainly, small production companies like the ones used by our theatre in Richmond have found it extremely difficult to get started again because of the uncertainty of getting money in.

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Shows take time to be stage-ready, and artists simply have not had the help that others have had, leading to a real shortage of shows to put on in our theatre. Indeed, the chief executive tells me that it has been almost impossible to produce a 
good programme because of the inability to get people together to rehearse. This is the fault, without doubt, of the Government’s leaving this sector without any help whatsoever during the pandemic.

The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond is one of Yorkshire's gems.The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond is one of Yorkshire's gems.
The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond is one of Yorkshire's gems.

Small theatres need to be paid up front now because insurance is problematic and going up. There is understandable nervousness about getting people back into theatres. Will they make enough profit to stay open?

Even an historically significant theatre like ours has these deep concerns, so what assurance can Ministers give to them?

For instance, will the Government ensure that the theatre and orchestra tax relief scheme will continue to support the many small theatres and orchestras into the future, because it will be a long time before they can make any profit?

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It seems to me that this is all about confidence: confidence in our Government to do the right thing and begin to support our cultural heritage.

This sector was so cruelly treated during the pandemic by not supporting artists and performers – the very people we need to help our creative industries grow. We also need to find the confidence to return to pre-pandemic levels of support for those individual performers and groups, who bring such richness to our daily lives.

That means allowing overseas artists to perform here as well. At the moment, we have made it extremely difficult for them to do so and our home-grown performers are finding it almost impossible to get bookings in Europe because of the ridiculous paperwork they now need to complete.

What was once easy has been made ludicrously difficult because of our stance on Brexit. So, finally, will the Government begin to see how important it is for us to share our culture with the world and recognise that only by unfettered reciprocal arrangements between countries can we begin to rebuild our creative industries?

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Baroness Harris of Richmond is a Lib Dem peer who spoke in a House of Lords debate on the creative industries. This is an edited version.

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