Theatres share £450k to help sustain culture

Two theatre companies in Staffordshire have received a total of almost £450,000 as part of a major funding initiative aimed at supporting cultural projects.

Claybody Theatre, based at the former Spode pottery factory in Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent, has been awarded £150,000 to make improvement at its performance venue The Dipping House.

Co-artistic director Deborah McAndrew, said people had loved watching the space "come back to life," since moving into it in 2023.

Meanwhile, the Stoke on Trent & North Staffordshire Theatre Trust, which runs the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, will receive £295,000.

The funding is part of a national pot totalling almost £130m.

"This funding will help us to make The Dipping House a more accessible and comfortable place for our audiences, artists, volunteers, and participants," McAndrew said.

Claybody Theatre plans to use the money to improve their venue's flooring, lighting and seating.

"We look forward to expanding Claybody's popular, in-house programme and to welcoming other local and national companies to share their work at this landmark destination," said the theatre's other co-artistic director Conrad Nelson.

The company recently opened an adaptation of Arnold Bennett's The Grand Babylon Hotel, ahead of a national tour.

Arts Council England said the funding was aimed at investing in buildings and equipment to help keep venues running for people to enjoy.

"It improves sustainability and revitalises cultural assets, so organisations can provide a bolder and bigger programme of activity for their communities," said Midlands area director Liz Johnson.

The news came as the wider Spode Works site was set to undergo a major regeneration, with construction firm Capital & Centric working on plans to turn the former pottery factory into a mixed-use development.

This year also sees the New Vic celebrate 40 years since it was built - at the time, the first of its kind in Europe to offer performances in-the-round.

It remains one of only a handful of purpose-built theatres of this kind in the country and is among only a small number globally.

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