Shakespeare show move from historic Stafford Castle to theatre called in for further discussion

Stafford Borough Council cabinet members agreed last month for the outdoor summer show to move indoors to the Gatehouse Theatre in 2023 because of the “significant cost and financial risks” of holding it in the grounds of the town’s historic castle.

Stafford Festival Shakespeare has been running for more than 30 years and is staged each summer in the grounds of the town’s historic castle. The Covid pandemic meant the show was put on hold in 2020 and 2021, but it returned last year with a production of Romeo and Juliet.

Tickets for the 2023 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream went on sale last month. And just days after the curtain fell on the Gatehouse Theatre’s latest panto, Cinderella, it was revealed the festive family show had set new box office records for both attendance and receipts.

But rising costs remain a challenge for Freedom Leisure, which runs cultural services on behalf of the borough council. The not for profit trust has been in discussion with the authority on the financial sustainability of its contract, with soaring energy bills and cost pressures such as the annual Shakespeare production named as two key factors.

To help ease the risk of the contract failing, the cabinet agreed for financial support to be provided from council reserves for the rest of the current financial year, as well as during 2023/24, and for the relocation of the Shakespeare production. Council officers are also set to carry on working with Freedom Leisure to reduce the level of financial support needed and improve the contact’s sustainability.

Three members of the council’s Labour opposition group called in the cabinet decision for discussion by the Resources Scrutiny Committee. Councillors Aidan Godfrey, Gillian Pardesi and Angela Loughran said: “We would like Stafford Borough Council members to look at the detail of the issues raised in the cabinet report.”

Committee members spent more than an hour discussing the details behind closed doors at a meeting on Tuesday. Members of the press and public were asked to leave the meeting room at the start of the discussion to avoid confidential details contained in a report from being revealed.

The committee did not agree to any further action being taken after the discussion however. Councillors who called in the decision declined to reveal details of what was said during the debate.

Councillor Carolyn Trowbridge, cabinet member for leisure, said she was happy for the December decision to be called in to enable discussion on ways to improve the borough’s leisure facilities. She added: “It was a very good debate and by far the majority decided that this was the right route to go down to support Freedom Leisure.”