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Joanna Lumley |
Theatre boss in promise to act on seat plaques
King’s Head sponsorship scheme delay
THEATRE bosses have blamed the recession for stalling a vital money-raising patronage scheme.
The King’s Head Theatre in Upper Street launched its “Adopt-A-Seat” programme in January 2008 to pay for new seating costing £25,000.
In return for their £100, donors were promised a plaque on the back of a sponsored chair.
But nearly two years on, there is still no sign of the plaques.
Steven Levy, the theatre’s executive producer, said “the world had changed” since the scheme began but moved to allay fears that the project had been put on hold.
“Everything was fine and then the bottom fell out of the world,” he said. “We didn’t put it on hold – it has just progressed ever so slowly. It has become a little bit more time consuming than we had hoped.”
The plaques will only be fitted once donations have been taken for all of the venue’s 120 seats.
Mr Levy said some donors had expressed concern over the delay, adding: “It’s not about a glass of wine down the road, it’s about contributing to keep the theatre vibrant. If we were perpetually raising money and they [the donors] never saw the seats that would be dangerous, but we’ve done what we said we were going to do.
“The new seats are actually comfortable. The King’s Head has a history of, shall we say, not the most comfortable seating in London.”
The theatre is planning one last publicity campaign to find donors for the remaining 50 seats. The new seating was part of a general relaunch of the theatre – it now claims to be the only fringe venue in England with surround sound, after a donation from Joanna Lumley.
Last week, the Hackney Empire announced it is to close for at least nine months because of financial difficulties. |
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