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News
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Dateline: 14th December, 2007
Arts Council holds back Derby Grant Arts Council England has withheld its £700,000 grant to Derby Playhouse, administrators running the theatre have revealed. In a letter to administrators Tenon Recovery, Arts Council England said it intended to continue funding a producing theatre in Derby. But bosses said they had reservations how the financially-troubled theatre had been managed. The theatre was put into liquidation after only five performances of the current production Treasure Island. However the Playhouse was allowed to go into administration and it reopened after being dark for a week. Administrators Tenon Recovery said a consortium bidding to run the theatre had raised enough cash to allow Treasure Island to complete its run until 26th January, although its long-term future hung in the balance. Dilip Dattani from Tenon said the Arts Council's decision was not disastrous news. "It is a disappointment. Having said that it's better we know (the Arts Council's) decision at this stage so that the consortium can plan accordingly," he said. He added the council had ring-fenced funding for a theatre in Derby but whether the previous management would be involved had not yet been decided. As for ticket sales for Treasure Island during the first week after the theatre reopened, they were "in line with expectations. Things are moving in the right direction." The theatre's artistic director Stephen Edwards said the council could have simply stopped funding the Playhouse altogether. "Ten regional theatres are not getting a grant at all. We could have had a letter telling us we were out of the funding loop. "With the theatre in administration I thought we'd be on that list, so we leapt when we got this letter. We were delighted." However a further statment from Peter Knott, Arts Council England East Midlands director of arts and development, said: "We've had concerns over the ability of the current organisation to construct an effective model which means that theatre can go forward in Derby. "There would need to be an extraordinary change to persuade us that the current organisation could take theatre forward in Derby."
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