|
|
 |
| |
Work put put forward by Camden Town-based artist Paula Rego |
Artists stage a show of support for fringe theatre
Work is donated in bid to raise funds for struggling venue hit by recession
LEADING artists have rallied round to help stave off a budget black hole at the renowned Tricycle theatre in Kilburn by offering exclusive pieces of their work for a fund-raising auction.
The event will be a one-off chance to buy items from such names as the Camden Town artist Paula Rego, Angel of the North sculptor Anthony Gormley, Gonzo cartoonist Ralph Steadman and Sergeant Pepper album cover designer, Sir Peter Blake.
The venue needs around £2.75million a year to stay afloat. It raises more than £1m from ticket sales, but relies on donations of around £400,000 and grants to cover the shortfall.
Artistic director Nicholas Kent revealed that while Brent Council offer a grant to the theatre and cinema complex on the Kilburn High Road, Camden Council have flatly refused to help back the Tricycle, which as well as showing cutting-edge theatre productions have a cinema and education courses for young people.
Other donations come from bodies such as the Arts Council, but Mr Kent admits that finding the funds to keep the popular arts venue going is always an issue.
He said: “There has been added pressure because of the recession, and it is twofold. The cash we raise from charitable trusts has gone down enormously. They have lost money on the Stock Market, meaning their finances have been badly hit.”
Mr Kent said that the same problems had affected individuals who would regularly offer large donations in the past.
“There has been less money coming in from individuals for causes such as ours,” he said.
But the gloomy times have also hit the theatre in a unexpected way. Mr Kent said that when the economic outlook is not bright, theatregoers tend to eschew the more serious plays that the Tricycle is renowned for and plump for frivolous feel-good shows.
“In the autumn last year people were very worried and tended not to be spending on money on going to the theatre, particularly serious theatre,” he said.
“They were opting to go and see more light-hearted shows to cheer themselves up. We put on Deepcut [a play about the deaths of soldiers at Deepcut barracks] and got great reviews but it did not do as well as we hoped at the box office.”
This trend, added Mr Kent says, continued over the winter and into the spring.
Ms Rego told the New Journal: “It is so important – English theatre is the greatest in the world and the plays smaller theatres like the Tricycle put on are often ones that the larger venues shy away from.
“They are vital for encouraging innovation and I was only too happy to help.”
The cash raised from the arts sale will go straight into the theatre’s artistic programme.
The art for sale will be on display at the Tricycle, in conjunction with the Portland Gallery, from Monday. To bid for the works, visit www.portlandgallery.com or call 0207 372 6611. |
 |
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
