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Huntingdon Hall, the Worcester-based live music venue, is set to re-open Worcester?s Swan Theatre which closed as a producing house at the end of last month following the announcement of funding cuts by the Worcester City Council (see ArtsProfessional issue 41, January 13).
Under Huntingdon Hall?s plans, which are due to be ratified by the Council on February 25, a new organisation named Huntingdon Arts will be set up as an umbrella body operating Huntingdon Hall, The Swan Theatre and The Studio Theatre, and the annual Worcester Festival which takes place in August. A £54,000 Council grant, originally set aside for the running of the Swan, will be used to support the plans. A multi-purpose arts programme will be put in place, using the most suitable venue for each event. Although there are no plans to establish a professional company at the Swan, Huntingdon Hall has pledged to foster amateur work there, to restart the youth theatres and to encourage and further develop children?s theatre. The professional programme will include theatre, music, comedy, poetry, film and dance.

Meanwhile, a short-term life-line has been thrown to Watersmeet Theatre, singled out for closure by Three Rivers District Council (see ArtsProfessional issue 43, February 10). Following an outcry by local residents, the Council is to extend the funding for the theatre to January 2004, which will enable the proposed pantomime Cinderella, which is likely to be a box office hit, to go ahead as planned. Cllr Ann Shaw, Leader of Three Rivers District Council has said ?We are actively looking for a means to ensure that the many excellent arts and community groups in the district have a venue where they can meet and continue their work?, but there is no commitment to professional theatre in the District. Approaches have been made to the Council by amateur groups interested in running the Theatre.

Controversy is also raging in Kent, where the County Council has announced that its budget is to be focused on the Turner Centre in Margate, while other arts organisations in the region have been earmarked for cuts of up to 50%. Artistic Director Philip Dart of Channel Theatre Company has warned that the future of the company, which last year took professional, educational theatre to over 15,000 school children and played to 3,500 people in rural communities, is now at risk.