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‘Theatre is left unsure of future’
Venue where legends including Eartha Kitt have played could be swallowed up by hotel chain
IT is named after the playwright who also served as a borough councillor and has provided a stage for a host of A-list names including Eartha Kitt and Tori Amos.
But the Shaw Theatre in Euston Road faces an uncertain future after Novotel, the global hotel chain which owns the building, decided not to renew the lease of the theatre’s current promoters.
Brian Daniels, the impresario also behind Hampstead’s successful New End Theatre, has been told his lease will not be renewed at the end of July. There are fears that Novotel wants to use the 450-seat auditorium for more lectures and conferences, replacing thespians with businessmen and trade shows and limiting the amount of artistic endeavours the stage will host.
Among the events coming up as the clock ticks down on Mr Daniels’ time is a talk by Yorkshire-based author Gervase Phinn, while later in the year gigs by the acclaimed London Gay Men’s Chorus and Elkie Brooks have been booked.
Save London Theatres campaigner John Levitt said a large hotel chain were not suitable guardians for the venue. “It has to be independently run and managed run by a theatre, as a theatre,” he said.
Mr Levitt said strict guidelines over access were needed or the Shaw would face problems hosting performances.
“There is nothing to say you can’t hold conferences at certain times, but it needs to be free for dress rehearsals, technical rehearsals,” he said.
Mr Levitt added that shows that were successful could face difficulty extending runs, as they can do at other West End venues, as they may come up against hotel booking pressures.
The theatre was refurbished seven years ago and the Town Hall’s planning permission included clauses that conferences have to be limited to 105 days a year and the stage must be available for shows 320 days a year.
A Novotel spokesman said there were no plans to change this, adding: “We are very proud to have the Shaw Theatre as part of the Novotel London St Pancras and so, following the departure of Brian Daniels, have appointed a new artistic director to ensure we continue to stage plays in the theatre for the foreseeable future. Several productions are scheduled for the remainder of this year and we have no plans to reduce our commitment in this respect.”
Poet and performer Rob Inglis, who lives near the theatre and who ran pressure group The Friends of Shaw Group, said the theatre offers a vital cultural hub for the area.
“People have been impressed with some of the star quality they have had there with solo acts, but it is a pity that they haven’t been able to have more community based theatre groups,” he added. “We were not looking at 50/50, just a little.
“People talk of the north-west frontier in Camden where in places like Hampstead there is more support for artistic provision. In Somers Town, there isn’t the same interest and Camden Council has largely washed its hands of it.”
A spokesman for the Theatres Trust told The Stage newspaper that the King’s Cross area was in need of a theatre like The Shaw. He said: “The Theatres Trust very much hopes that the Shaw will continue to be successful.
“It needs better signage, but the theatre is in a location which has become more arts focused with the regeneration of King’s Cross and there is every reason to believe that in future there will be increased demand. |
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YOUR COMMENTS:
I appreciate the concern which is been rose. The things need to be sorted out because it?s not about the individual but it can be with everyone.
'McCall' |
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