Royal Court s £3m Naming Crisis Resolved
Date: 3 December 1998
The Royal Court Theatre s crisis over funding has been resolved. The Theatre announced today that it has accepted a £3m donation from the Jerwood Foundation to help complete the rebuilding of its Sloane Square home. The 19th century building is being completely overhauled as part of a £25.8m project and is set to re-open in Autumn 1999.
The name of the Royal Court Theatre itself will remain unchanged as a result of the Jerwood's backing, but the venue's two auditoria will be renamed the “Jerwood Theatre Downstairs” and the “Jerwood Theatre Upstairs”. Outside, while the original stone and ironwork on the building's facade will continue to read “Royal Court Theatre”, a new neon sign above the main entrance will announce “The Jerwood Theatres at the Royal Court Theatre”.
The Royal Court was the first theatre to receive a National Lottery Award in 1995. Under the agreement with the Arts Council, the Royal Court had to raise about a quarter of the capital sum through private donations. The theatre managed to raise £3.7m through a prolonged appeal to individuals, businesses and other donors, but it remained a long way off from its target. Director Stephen Daldry declared last month that unless an additional £3m was found quickly, the theatre would face liquidation by May 1999.
The Jerwood donation nearly fulfils the Royal Court's financial requirements, but it has not been without controversy. Proposals for name changes to commemorate the donation - including changing the official name of the theatre to the Jerwood Royal Court - angered writers and other theatre fans. Even the Queen is said to have personally intervened to stop such a breach of royal protocol.
Commenting on this final solution, Alan Grieve, chairman of the Jerwood foundation, said: “We have had a robust debate on our proposed capital funding of the Royal Court and shared praise and criticism in equal measure. We have now achieved a reasoned way forward.”
“The directors and Council of the Royal Court are profoundly grateful to the Jerwood Foundation,” said Sir John Mortimer, Royal Court Chairman. “I am enormously relieved that the negotiations have been happily resolved and we can now go forward to provide a rebuilt and hugely improved theatre for new writing.”
For more information on the background to the Royal Court's wrangles, check out the previous What's On Stage news story Royal Court Faces £3m Liquidation Threat.
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