The British Theatre Guide: The Theatre Museum: The Fight Goes On

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Dateline: 31st January, 2007

The Theatre Museum: The Fight Goes On

The Guardians of the Theatre Museum are to continue the fight to keep the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden, even though it closed its doors on 7th January.

The next stage of the fight is to raise the same amount of money as the Royal Opera House was proposing to invest - £600,000 a year - and the Guardians are inviting organisations and individuals to make an annual pledge. Catherime Comerford of The Stage has already pledged £10,000 for each of the next two years.

In addition, according to convenor Ian Herbert, the Guardians "would try to find larger, philanthropic donors who might fund the capital sums that would be needed to make the scheme really work."

"The V&A made great play with the misleading idea that ‘the luvvies won’t pay’, says Herbert. "Apart from the fact that this is like asking archaeologists to fund the British Museum, in fact nobody asked the ‘luvvies’. Now we’ve been asked - and the pledges are rolling in. We look forward to receiving yours, large or small.

"In spite of years of under-investment," he goes on, "the Museum is one of the UK’s most popular, attracting more visitors than the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool or Kenwood House in London. Visits in 2004 topped 220,000, more per square foot than for the V&A itself. In 2005 it rated 69th of the country’s 100 biggest visitor attractions, from Blackpool Pleasure Beach (1) to Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum (100). There are nearly 2,000 museums in Britain – the Theatre Museum is one of the foremost."

Support will be sought from organisations and businesses, and from individuals who would become "Friends of the Theatre Museum". The aim is to find

Corporate Friends: 50 businesses and arts organisations pledging £10,000 a year - £500,000
Dear Friends: 500 lovers of theatre pledging £100 a year - £50,000
Good Friends: 5000 lovers of theatre pledging £20 a year - £100,000

This would raise the £600,000 necessary with £50,000 being devoted to the costs of the fundraising. Gift Aid and tax relief could increase the sum dramatically.

At the moment, all that is being asked for is pledges, no actual cash. "If sufficient support arrives quickly," say the Guardians, "we can then set up formal means to redeem those pledges and begin serious discussion with the V&A on how to proceed."

The Guardians of the Theatre Museum are:

Convenors: Save London’s Theatres Campaign (President, Graeme Cruickshank; Chair John Levitt), The Society for Theatre Research (President, Timothy West CBE, Chairman Ian Herbert)

Council: Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE, Ian Albery, Brenda Blethyn OBE, Yvonne Brewster OBE, Nica Burns, Simon Callow CBE, Michael Cashman MEP, Raquel Cassidy, Sir Patrick Cormack, PC MP, Dame Judi Dench CH, Sir Richard Eyre CBE, Viscount Falkland, The Earl of Glasgow DL, Gawn Grainger, Sir Peter Hall CBE, Sir David Hare, Thelma Holt CBE, Sir Derek Jacobi CBE, Sir Eddie Kulukundis, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Joanna Lumley OBE, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Lady Macmillan, Peter O’Toole, Lynn Redgrave OBE, Vanessa Redgrave CBE, Luke Rittner, Lord Rix Kt CBE DL, Paul Scofield CH CBE, Sir Donald Sinden CBE, Jatinder Verma, Zoë Wanamaker CBE, Sir Arnold Wesker FRSL

Supporters: The Actors’ Centre, The Association of British Theatre Technicians, The Association of Lighting Designers, The Association of Personal Managers, BECTU, The British Music Hall Society, The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, The Critics’ Circle, The Drama Association of Wales, Equity, The International Association of Theatre Critics, The International Federation for Theatre Research, The International Society of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts, The Irving Society, The Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection, The Musicians’ Union, The National Campaign for the Arts, The Noel Coward Foundation, The Noel Coward Society, The Puppet Centre Trust, St Paul’s Covent Garden (The Actors’ Church), The Shaw Society, The Society of British Theatre Designers, The Society for Dance Research, The Society of London Theatre, The Stage Management Association, The Standing Conference of University Drama Departments, The Stephen Sondheim Society, The Theatres Trust, The Theatrical Management Association and the Vic-Wells Association

Plus - at the last count today - 12,958 members of the public. To become a Guardian, go to www.theatremuseumguardians.org.uk/ and register.

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