Greenwich (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Greenwich Theatre aims to overcome recent financial struggles as it unveils a bold new artistic vision to restore its role as a vital cultural hub in the borough.
According to the theater’s longtime artistic director, the Covid-caused loss was equivalent to about a quarter of its yearly revenue, plunging the renowned theater back into financial difficulties that it had been fighting to escape for years.
“We just couldn’t get the show out in Christmas week and New Year week – and we lost a quarter of a million pounds in revenue.
Honestly, we just thought… give us a break,”
says Greenwich Theatre’s James Haddrell.
“The pantomime season for us brings in over forty per cent of our annual income, so it really was so hard to come out of Covid and then face that setback. But we persisted, and we are now finding our way back.”
James began working at the theater in 2001, very early in the tenure of Hilary Strong, who was the artistic director at the time. The theater was shut down after losing its Arts Council financing in the late 1990s, which was quickly followed by the loss of council funding as well.
“Hilary had been Director of the Edinburgh Fringe and reopened the theatre about eighteen months after its closure”,
James recalls.
He added that they just hadn’t been selling enough tickets. So funding was being given, but there weren’t enough local people coming through the doors to justify that funding.
He joined first as a press officer, then moved up to marketing manager before taking over as Director in 2007. In those six years before he took the reins we had tried to produce more of our own shows and ultimately got into huge financial debt again.
Those years had included a play based on Dava Sobel’s book Longitude, and a revival of the Charles Strauss musical Golden Boy that Sammy Davis Jr had performed in at the London Palladium.
He added that they were trying to find our way back to an identity.
Producing theatre is expensive, and you have to assume that for the first few years you’re going to lose money, as people get used to your vision and the types of shows you produce.
You should build it into your business model but when I took over, we had a deficit of about a quarter of a million pounds. Once again, the theatre was fighting for its life.
In 2012, James thought everything was back on track, but he watched with dismay as money was diverted to the Olympics.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a naysayer, I thought the Olympics were fantastic, but it was hoped that organisations like ours would feel a knock-on benefit from the games, and that’s just not how it worked out – so we lost a lot of funding.”
When the epidemic hit in 2020, James had to decide whether to close and wait it out or drastically alter their theater offerings, which is what they chose to do.
With funding from the Arts Council, they moved a lot of activities online, such as the Greenwich Children’s Theatre Festival. They also produced a reimagined Stephen Berkoff play with a cast of 39 young or up-and-coming actors, each of whom recorded their performance at home. Dame Helen Mirren was the surprise forty-first performer.
“That brought us a lot of publicity – we were even featured in the New York Times – and a lot of donations, as the production was free to watch.”
Then the world came back, panto was back on… until it wasn’t.
James is concerned that it seems like “one long whinge,” but when you consider the struggles this theater has endured, the fact that it still exists is a monument to the dedication and passion of everyone involved, who have repeatedly refused to give up on it.
James asserts that this is true of community theater nationwide and the affection it arouses in local audiences as well as among employees and actors.
Despite not having any direct support, the theatre has fought back today, even though Greenwich Council rents the space to them for free.
“That is not insignificant!” admits James.
“We couldn’t operate if we had to pay rent for the theatre, without doubt, so we’re very grateful. Principally now it’s about bringing a commercial mindset to the organisation”
he asserts, although there is always the balance to be had with commercial successes and encouraging a variety of work and fostering riskier, less established talents.
Their major upside is the theatre tax relief scheme, which in fact was instigated by a previous Conservative government, to try to stimulate more domestic theatre productions. Essentially if you produce a show that doesn’t make a profit, you can surrender the loss against your corporation tax.
“So does that mean they hope for theatrical failures?
He laughs – “no, we’re not like Mel Brooks’ The Producers! We would much rather have productions that are commercial successes, but what the scheme does mean is that you can get some money back against the loss if it happens, so you can be more confident about taking a creative risk, and that is exciting.”
But from a commercial standpoint, it means that the theater is always experiencing a cash flow crisis. Instead of seeking Arts Council funding like it used to, it now has to wait for backdated tax relief before it can start showing shows.
“We run a business that is breaking even or even slightly better, but the cash flow is a year behind, and that is difficult to navigate.”
The theater has 400 seats, and a performance that runs six days a week would be considered a commercial success if it fills 40–55 percent of the about 10,000 tickets that are available.
Instead of creating its own content, it might choose to only present traveling shows, like other community theaters across the nation. Additionally, it might post its prices as well as those of its bar.
He added that they have worked really hard to keep prices affordable. And what they hope is that they continue to get support from our local audiences – if we could fill even 60 percent of seats for one of our own shows, it would make a huge difference.
What they have decided about what they put on is that we will stick to our guns and say – they are good at this. And now artistically we are in a really exciting place. Their primary identity is now built around our own productions, rather than just touring shows or stand-up comedy. There’s an audience for that, and offering a stage to those other companies is important, but it’s no longer what they do all year.
And as their artistic identity has grown, it’s become easier to recruit the kind of talent that previously they may have struggled to attract.
“Last year we produced Jez Butterworth’s The River with Paul McGann, and even with Paul attached it took us two years to secure the rights.
And then we went back to Jez afterwards and asked about producing Parlour Song – and he just said yes. So we’re doing that next month, with Jeremy Edwards, Kellie Shirley and Naveed Khan in the cast.”
Their reputation is growing with good, strong shows, and relationships with writers like Mike Bartlett, Michael Frayn, Philip Ridley, Caryl Churchill, Bryony Lavery – a decade ago we wouldn’t have gotten close to those writers.
“We do want to see more funding, of course!’, James admits. ‘We’re putting a strategy together to apply to a host of possible supporters.
But fundamentally, theatres survive on audiences, so we would love people to book to see a show – and to book earlier.”
He claims that COVID changed how people book in the theater industry. Previously, you might browse the website, brochures, and advertisements and make reservations eight or twelve weeks in advance.
However, he discovered that during the pandemic, entire casts could become ill, a show could be canceled, or the pandemic tiering could change suddenly.
People began delaying making decisions until the last minute, and that practice hasn’t completely disappeared. We used to sell the most tickets during our Christmas pantomime season in Easter, but last year, with three weeks left, there were still a ton of tickets available.
James is also a supporter of removing obstacles that can keep individuals from participating or attending the theater. Additionally, after signing a 24-year lease on their building last year, they have started a £50,000 target fundraiser to provide the disabled with access to the stage, dressing rooms, hearing loops, and even performances that are captioned or sign language interpreted.
“We’ve had a really encouraging start, hitting over 10% in a few weeks’, ” he says.
My rallying cry to local people would be this – look at our programme, and there will be something that you want to see.”
He added that it may be Jez Butterworth’s Parlour Song, it may be a well-known drama, or our new family rep season featuring all-new versions of The Three Musketeers and The Elves and the Shoemaker.
Buy something you know you’ll enjoy, but then also take a punt on something you know nothing about. I can guarantee you won’t regret taking the risk.
What are the key strategies Greenwich theatre is using to overcome its financial challenges?
The theater may be able to lower production costs and increase artistic control by producing more shows in-house, which would improve its financial sustainability.
Revenue has increased as a result of the theater’s modest ticket price increases and increasing attendance, with approximately 60,000 people attending shows and workshops in the last year.
The theater has upgraded its financial infrastructure to better manage cash flow and hired new leadership, including an Executive Director who is tasked with managing in-house productions and fundraising.
The theater can now claim Theatre Tax Relief twice in the 2024–25 years due to improvements in finance systems, which will help to ease cash flow problems that were previously brought on by backdated relief delays.