Recent publicity around the proposed lease of the Seven Dials Playhouse has led to renewed activity from Actor At The Centre, a creative force of over 2,000 people working in the Arts today, backed by Equity, the union that represents more than 47,000 performers and creative practitioners.
I spoke with Kate Maravan – a British actress, acting teacher, and co-founder of White Box, a resident theatre company at the Actors Centre, in London – to find out just what’s been going on.
Background
The Actors Centre was set up as a charity in 1978, and gained a building on Tower St in Seven Dials in 1994. It was a thriving centre for workshops, training and networking for actors and other associates within the theatre business.
It had a theatre for performance, the Tristan Bates, named after the late son of actor Alan Bates (and described as”the industry theatre, a meeting-ground at the heart of the business where actors, writers and directors can test new ideas and be daring” (source)).
It also had four studio spaces named for John Thaw, John Curry. Pat Lawrence and Catherine Hammond.
Rebranding /repurposing of The Actors Centre
During the 2020 lockdown and until November of 2021, there was a fundraiser which was set up to secure the future of the Actors Centre. Many members donated or deferred their subscriptions so that the money could be found to continue the programme at Tower St.
The campaign, backed by Joanna Lumley, was run by Amanda Davey who was in charge of the Actors Centre and remains there now, and up until the rebrand the donation page was aimed at saving the classes, workshops and so on.
The membership programme no longer exists, and neither do the weekly classes, or the Alan Bates bursary. The building at Tower St is largely disused.
The spaces have been renamed. We questioned heavily the legality and morality of taking people’s money in this campaign and then not following through on what was promised.
The Seven Dials Playhouse
In November 2021 it was announced that the Actors Centre has now become the Seven Dials Playhouse, a producing house. Amanda Davey is CEO.
It was originally planned to be a place where performances were supported by a programme of curated workshops and training. The fact this has not happened suggests the venue has now abandoned the aims under which the charity was set up.
The Articles of Association set up when the charity was formed have not changed with the rebrand – the primary purpose of the company is to provide a home for creative collaboration, vital community and accessible, affordable training for actors.
Proposed sale of the building lease at Tower St
The charity set up as the Actors Centre still owns the building. The trustees have decided to do an investment leaseback offer to sell the lease for £4 million, then pay annual rent of £300k.
At the moment, the building is held on peppercorn rent for 999 years. Although the offer went up in March, we only found out about it a couple of weeks ago, and we have now started a campaign to save the building and what it represents.
Actor at the Centre would like to meet to discuss a project in development relating to the reinstatement of weekly professional training that might help you to increase revenue, develop your regular audience base, and ensure 1A Tower Street’s prominence in the industry amongst actors, practitioners and Equity members.
The Call To Conversation, 2022
What is the campaign about?
We have enlisted a lot of big names including charity founder Sheila Hancock and Anthony Hopkins, who helped the charity buy the building at Tower St.
The message is that the building was bought by actors, for actors, and their continued development. We need to restore vital affordable/accessible training and community.
Although the first season had some success, it appears that Seven Dials Playhouse is rarely putting on productions that attract sufficient audiences, and has no associated training programme. They have given some support to shows going up to Edinburgh Fringe this year.
Their accounts up to Mar 2022 were very sorry reading and they have delayed publishing their financial situation since then.
The money from donations and from the Cultural Recovery Fund during the pandemic appear to have been wasted on trying to establish a new West End receiving/producing house.
Communication between Seven Dials Playhouse and Actor at the Centre
The trustees at Seven Dials Playhouse have not been open to any collaborative talks about the future of the building, or why the membership and training programme was was not just artistically and creatively importance in the industry and for ongoing accessible, affordable training, but also it was the most profitable part of the building.
With the rebrand/repurposing of the building future generations of actors will lose out on ongoing professional development that is accessible and affordable at a time when the industry is already in crisis, That’s the sort of thing we are fighting for, but the trustees won’t engage with us.
On the Zoom call in November 2021 where the plans were shared, it was promised that they would have this associated programme of workshops and events, thematically linked to every show that is performed. It never happened.
They also felt the original Actors Centre was somehow elitist and not open to multiple creatives in other fields but that was never true. Even back in 1978 a fight director was one of the founders and we had all sorts of creatives within the membership and attending the classes.
It was always an inclusive space. Ironically, far from becoming more inclusive, Seven Dials Playhouse has excluded 1000s of actors and creatives from the building.
We had a document in Oct 2022 called The Call To Conversation which was ignored, as was a petition for dialogue between us which now has more than 5,000 signatures. More recently we have submitted an open letter which has not been acknowledged.
The organisation and building was originally dedicated to actors and their ongoing professional training. In our understanding, Seven Dials Playhouse has failed to address this original purpose and the community it served. One that was already diverse and inclusive and has now been further disenfranchised and isolated.
The Call To Conversation, 2022
What would Actor at the Centre like to see happen?
We would like to see the sale of the lease halted, and the building returned to what it was originally bought for, with the membership programme restored.
If the Seven Dials Playhouse hasn’t been a success as a ‘West End theatre’ and the trustees can’t afford to run the building anymore, they need to return to the model that was profitable and useful.
If the sale of the lease goes through then the £300k a year rent on top of any outstanding debts makes the future look very problematic for Tower St and anyone who takes it on.
The idea of thematically linked training doesn’t work either. Techniques can be applied to any show but where would there ever be a thematic link?
We would also like the trustees to recognise and discuss our feedback on the situation but they won’t do this unless it aligns with their vision – it all feels a bit hopeless.
How can people help?
Engage with our social accounts and spread the word. Help us start and continue a productive dialogue with the trustees in which the building can be saved for future generations and remain a profitable concern.
Equity is in support of the campaign, which we recognise as far from what Amanda Davey describes as not sufficiently representative but key and crucial to the diversity and development of young creatives in the industry.
It isn’t just about established actors looking back to the past. Actors are a workforce – often extemely underpaid, isolated, and very vulnerable. These are people trying to make a living who need their support networks and places they can go.
It isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. I don’t think Amanda Davey as chief executive ever really understood the legacy of the building or why it was important.