HomeArts & LifestyleRed Ladder to re-enter Arts Council Portfolio

Red Ladder to re-enter Arts Council Portfolio

Red Ladder Theatre Company will re-enter Arts Council England’s National Portfolio. The Leeds-based radical theatre company will receive £165,000 annually for 2018-2022, enabling an ambitious and wide-ranging artistic programme and taking the company into its 50th year.

Artistic director, Rod Dixon, said: “This is fantastic news; the best possible outcome as Red Ladder heads into our 50th year. We see this as a great vote of confidence from Arts
Council England in what we’ve achieved through a challenging time – but one in which we’ve thrived; through passion and dedication for what we do, and with the overwhelming support of our fans and peers. Through project grants, creative partnerships and the backing of donors and creative collaborators, we’ve realised our ambitions and delivered a really successful body of work. We now have the funding to build on this with a bold and exciting new programme, taking us into our 50th year as a radical arts company that is committed to making theatre for the many, not the few.”

Red Ladder is widely regarded as the UK’s leading radical theatre company. In 2014, it received a 100% cut to ACE funding, resulting in a reduction of core income from £162,000 to zero (2015-2018) and almost ceased to exist. In an overwhelming demonstration of support, the Save Red Ladder campaign was established by a group of independent supporters, raised more than £30,000 in donations. This has evolved into the company’s Ladderistas membership scheme, a platform for individual giving, which will play a vital role for the future of Red Ladder.

Our feature picture comes from the critically-acclaimed Songs of Solidarity, a Red Ladder double bill production combining a performance of Wrong ‘Un, followed by the music of O’Hooley and Tidow. Read the review here.

Samuel Payne
Samuel Paynehttp://samuelpayne.weebly.com
Reviewer of Theatre in the North, including releases of classic film and television.

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