Nottingham’s only fringe theatre venue Nonsuch Studios is to close its premises on Lower Parliament Street on 31 December.
In 2024, the company will focus on producing, touring and participation work but will retain a creative base in the city that the organisation has called home for the past 10 years.
Founder and artistic director Edward Boott said, “this is a huge and seismic shift for everyone connected to Nonsuch Studios. While we look ahead to a hugely exciting range of projects and activities that will see us engage with more audiences and community members than ever before, we know we wouldn’t be where we are today without the amazing support and dedication of those who’ve enabled us to thrive as a venue over the past five years.”
The change is part of a new business model “responding to the growth in demand of the organisation’s creative and community work and the ever-increasing costs of operating a venue in challenging economic circumstances”.
Boott added, “as an independent organisation we’ve given our all to build Nottingham’s only fringe theatre venue. However, the current economic situation, lack of secured funding and unpredictable trading environment have meant we’ve had to re-evaluate our plans to sustain the charitable work which is at the core of our activity.
“Since the pandemic, we’ve done all we can to continue to deliver our projects and programmes and sustain our venue, but it’s become increasingly clear that the costs faced by smaller venues like ourselves can’t be sustained without some level of core support or public subsidy.”