Last year, I wrote an open letter to Stafford Borough Council and the Gatehouse regarding the future of Stafford Festival Shakespeare. That open letter led to over an hour long open conversation at the Gatehouse between both Councillor Trowbridge and area manager of Freedom Leisure Liz Hustle and myself.
It was clear from the discussion there was no negotiation in the hosting of the 2022 Stafford Festival, that it was both critical to the survival of the festival, that it would do great things for Stafford, the theatre, its community and also a good opportunity to rest the ground at the Castle.
What was clear from Councillor Trowbridge was that if the experiment failed and audiences were impacted, she would not grant that same decision again.
Councillor Trowbridge was voted out at the last election, and also, there’s been a change of administration of the council. It also appears that their attitude to both Freedom Leisure and Stafford Shakespeare has changed, too.
Audience participation at Stafford Shakespeare didn’t just fall. It was decimated.
The 2023 Stafford Festival lost just under half of its audience in 12 months. That audience is gone.
In 2022, over 9000 seats were sold. In 2023 5000 seats were sold. If this was a professional company, heads would be rolling if the number of products sold in 12 months halved.
The run in 2023 achieved just over 40% capacity, half the size of what is targeted for any professional production.
These numbers matter. Star names will not star in a production known to attract a 40% capacity. The national press will not be interested in a production that sells 250 seats a day, and equally, a 40% capacity show is simply not sustainable – not even for a subsidised show. If this volume doesn’t change, it will be less than five, perhaps as short as two years before Freedon Leisure, which will demand that the only way for financial survival will be to cut the production entirely.
At that same time, Freedom Leisure has been given a sizeable reprieve from the government to assist it in managing the increase in energy costs to heat swimming pools. Where’s that unexpected money gone? That money was a windfall, it wasn’t expected. The council made a sizeable amount of money in its culture underspend last year. Where’s that money gone?
This failure of management is not at all to do with the direct team at the Gatehouse and they did their best to put out a production that overall received positive reactions to the quality of the product. This frustration must be directly to the people who over promised and failed to deliver for the people of Stafford because they felt they knew better.
It’s a failure of a management company that has no experience or expertise in managing an arts venue, let alone what was once the largest open air festival in Europe that’s caused this perilous position to attempt to force the council’s hand into decision making.
Freedom Leisure’s attempt at cost cutting has failed, yet they continue to be applauded for their failure by having no repercussions for that failure. Meanwhile, Stafford loses out, and that’s not acceptable.
I am positive that if the contract was on the line, Freedom Leisure would find a way. Instead, it’s the future of the Gatehouse’s reputation that stands at risk because of a poor decision, made by a team of people in Sussex who aren’t impacted by the decisions they make.
This isn’t just about the quality of the product anymore. This is about true community engagement and a true understanding of the community they serve.
The people of Stafford have spoken and replacing an outdoor festival with an indoor one isn’t acceptable, and if our local council isn’t bold enough to hold decision makers accountable, who is?
The Theatre Twittic 
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