Hampstead Theatre is to plough £1 million into bringing new plays to the stage as part of a new initiative that has just been launched.
The theatre, which has produced 55 new plays since Artistic Director Edward Hall (pictured with Sit Peter Hall above) and Executive Producer Greg Ripley-Duggan took over in 2010, aims to raise half the funds from trusts, foundations and individuals.
Nicolai Tangen’s AKO Foundation will match all the funds raised by Hampstead Theatre up to the amount of £500,000.
Speaking about the project, Hall, whose production of Sunny Afternoon is nominated for Best New Musical at the upcoming Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard, said: “This is our investment in the future of theatre. Britain has an undisputed reputation as the source of some of the greatest writing in the world, and this financial injection of life into the commissioning landscape will support the enormous pool of talent that we enjoy.
“Responding to the climate of our times we have created a partnership with the generous help of the AKO Foundation to bring significant private commissioning money into the subsidised theatre sector. This will help us to continue with our ambition to find and make world-class theatre that is entertaining and original.”
Hampstead Theatre has already raised half of the money for which it is aiming.
The project will hope to build on the Swiss Cottage venue’s current success rate with new writing, which has seen Di And Viv And Rose transfer to the West End and James Fritz’s Four Minutes Twelves Seconds nominated for the Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre Olivier Award.