Hampstead Theatre cut sends clear message new writing isn't valued – former boss

Former Hampstead Theatre artistic director Jenny Topper has warned that the venue will not survive as a home for new writing without subsidy, claiming that recent statements intended to reassure people about its future plans were "illusory" and an attempt "to kick the issue down the road" until original work disappeared from its output.

Topper, who was artistic director at the London theatre from 1988 to 2003, also criticised the lack of a "collective voice" campaigning against the theatre’s 100% cut from Arts Council England last year.

"In times past, when ACE threatened to cut or reduce funding, the entire theatre community would meet, irrespective of whether they were affected by the decisions, to give voice to the dismay and fury felt by everyone. On occasion, that collective voice was so loud that it was actually heard by ACE. However, while the writers’ voice has been loud and eloquent, our collective voice has been muted. This is a crying shame because a cut to one is, alas, a cut to all," she said.

Topper joins former artistic director Roxana Silbert and writers including Dennis Kelly in hitting out at the decision to cut Hampstead’s ACE subsidy last year, and the lack of action taken since to protect new writing.

Since the cut, Hampstead Theatre has confirmed the closure of its literary department, with its literary director being made redundant.

In a letter to The Stage, Topper said the recent cuts sent a "clear message that new writing is not valued, that it is not considered necessary to the theatre landscape" and that Hampstead Theatre would "not survive as a new-writing venue in any guise without its subsidy".

"The statements being floated by ACE, by the theatre’s board and by its executive as to its future and funding are illusory, attempting to kick the issue down the road until its demise as a new-writing theatre is fait accompli... Hampstead Theatre is set on a course to be a receiving house, home for commercial producers," she said.

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