DECISION TAKEN TO GO TO CURTAIN ROAD

Five years after we were forced to leave our home in historic Canonbury Tower, The Tower Theatre Company is poised to make some history of its own. In one amazing week archaeologists found evidence that the “Curtain Road” plot in Shoreditch is indeed the site of London’s first purpose-built public playhouse and the Tower Theatre Company accepted the challenge of building a new home on exactly the same spot.

It is a huge undertaking and the decision was not taken lightly.

On Sunday 29th June the Relocation Board met the Company and Friends Committees and the heads of our production departments. We looked at the current state of play on relocation options, the prospects if both Hornsey Road and Curtain Road were to be rejected and the feasibility study which we recently commissioned from Action Planning, a strategy and fundraising consultancy specialising in working with non-profit-making organisations.

Margaret Martin of Action Planning had talked in depth to a representative sample of members, two thirds of whom preferred Curtain Road. But although it looked as though the Company was ready to ‘get behind’ Curtain Road, it meant raising up to £3million and everyone was terrified of that mountain. Would Hornsey Road be an affordable alternative? Most of Margaret’s sample had said that they would accept it if it were a quicker and cheaper option.

Up until a few months ago Hornsey Road had looked like an affordable option. When we were selected by Islington Council as the preferred tenants of the community space, we had made it clear that we were not in a position to pay a premium to secure the lease. However, at the end of last year we discovered that the developer’s agreement with Islington envisaged a £750,000 premium of which, as the result of a lack of communication within Islington Council, we had been totally unaware. Since then we have explored various possibilities with the developer and with our architect and quantity surveyor. However we cut the figures we still ended up having to raise about £2million for Hornsey Road of which a substantial part was to pay a premium, which is not a particularly enticing prospect for funders. There were also concerns that a leasehold property limited to community use would not be an enduring asset, as we would be unlikely to realise the amount of money we had put into it if we had to sell the lease on at some point in the future.

Several of the people Margaret talked to felt that we were being too ambitious and should look for a solution within our current resources. With the money we have, we could buy a small pub, but not one with enough space for a viable theatre or any rehearsal space or storage. We also considered a production space with no theatre but it is hard to see how that would work as there would be little incentive for anyone other than those immediately involved in forthcoming shows to ‘drop in’. The synergies we had at Canonbury really depended on having all our activities in close proximity to one another.

The Action Planning report also mentioned the fear that it would be imprudent to embark on any fundraising project in the current financial climate. We could certainly carry on as we are. The Bridewell is not considering its planned redevelopment within the next nine years and Theatro Technis is also available. We are encroaching on the interest from our £1.7 million for running costs, but as things stand, the basic sum is untouched. We could wait and see, but we would lose Curtain Road because the option expires on July 7th. Could we raise £3 million?

Action Planning’s research identified about 40 trusts and foundations which might fund an appeal like the Tower’s project and a similar number of companies. However, Margaret emphasised that they would want evidence that the Tower’s members and supporters were also making a substantial contribution. She concluded that the Tower currently has the potential to raise about £500,000 from outside sources, matched by another £500,000 from our own resources. In order to raise more we must attract some major individual or corporate donors. This is a leap of faith that will need commitment from everyone.

So why did the Relocation Board recommend that the Tavistock Repertory Guarantors accept the Curtain Road offer? Because we shall have to make a major fund raising effort to achieve any ‘home’ for the family and this is a project which really excites the ‘family’. Because the location has huge potential. Because the significance of the site offers major publicity possibilities. Because a freehold building would be an enduring asset for the Company. Because the arrangements suggested by the donor would protect our ‘nest egg’ if we failed in our best endeavours to realise the project, so we only risk losing time. Because in 75 years time the Company’s members would think we were mad to turn down the chance of bringing London theatre back to its original home where Shakespeare acted before the Globe. No-one underestimates the challenge – but what an incredible goal to aim for.

MORE ABOUT THE THEATRE

In 1576 James Burbage constructed London’s first purpose built playhouse in Shoreditch, just outside the jurisdiction of the City. He called it simply “The Theatre” and it became the home of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the company which included both James’s son Richard Burbage and the young William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet almost certainly had its premiere at “The Theatre”. In 1597 when the lease ran out the wooden structure was dismantled and transported across the Thames to be re-built as “The Globe”.

A late 16th century print. The tall building on the left is thought to be “The Theatre”

Until recently the exact location of “The Theatre” was uncertain but this June archaeologists from the Museum of London and English Heritage found evidence of its foundations in a little side street just off Curtain Road, a short distance north of Liverpool Street Station. A very generous donation has made it possible for the Tower Theatre Company to buy the site and we are already in discussion with the planning authority and English Heritage to create a 130 seat auditorium and a production base.

A section through the proposed new theatre

We do not aim to recreate the Elizabethan building . This will be the twenty-first century equivalent of the original, a no-frills, full-time, hard-working place of entertainment. It will be a showcase for the best of the non-professional arts in the capital.