Shakespeare festival moving to Stafford's Gatehouse Theatre to cut costs

The summer show normally staged in the grounds of Stafford Castle will be performed at the town's Gatehouse Theatre instead next year after councillors agreed that the costs would be difficult to meet in the current financial climate.

At a cabinet meeting on Thursday members agreed to move the show as part of an efficiency drive to curb production costs and drum up trade for pubs and hotels in the town centre in the summer.

Stafford Borough Council leisure boss Councillor Carolyn Trowbridge said they wanted to make sure the long-running festival of the Bard’s work would still be performed in more "settled" times rather than scrapping it.

"The show must go on. For the schools and their pupils in particular it is a very good event, but we have to make it more sustainable just for next year to see if if it can make a profit. It will also help the bars and hotels near the town centre," she said.

"I've lived near the castle for 25 years and I've gone to the show every year. It's a lovely event. This decision to move was made with my head and not my heart. Hopefully it will move back to the castle within a couple of years when things have settled down financially.

"In Stafford we haven't got rid of anything unlike some councils where swimming pools have closed. We have taken a look at things and voted with our financial heads. It's a case of needs must," Councillor Trowbridge," added.

Freedom Leisure Trust, a not-for-profit organisation which runs a range of leisure and cultural services on behalf of the borough asked for help with the increases in energy costs it is facing.

The festival returned to the castle for a two-week run this year with performances of Romeo and Juliet having been cancelled in the previous two years due to Covid – with the organisers reporting an increase in ticket sales compared to 2019.