Venue set to hold panto...oh yes it is!
THE Atkinson will host a Christmas panto after being awarded £203,934 as part of the Government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund (CRF).
The Lord Street theatre and arts centre is one of 1,385 cultural and creative organisations across the country receiving urgently needed support to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future.
Housed in a grade II listed building and holding extensive fine art and Egyptology collections, The Atkinson welcomes 500,000 visitors a year, delivering visual arts, dance, theatre, comedy, family-friendly and community programmes. It also houses a library and a social enterprise cafe run by Autism Ventures.
The Atkinson is the leading cultural organisation for Sefton borough and its staff take a leading role in various cultural partnerships locally and regionally.
The grant will also allow it to continue with a range of high-quality, culturally diverse exhibitions between now and the end of March 2021, albeit streamlined both to save costs and to ensure visitor safety.
A number of public participatory activities and interactive elements had to be stripped out of the Brick Wonders LEGO exhibition (July-September 2020) but the core exhibition still managed to attract 10,000 local residents and tourists back to Southport town centre.
After closing its doors in March, The Atkinson re-opened its museum and gallery spaces on July 27, operating on reduced hours and controlled visitor figures under the government’s guidelines around safe access.
The theatre and studio have remained closed, but the Culture Recovery Fund will allow it to re-open with a socially distanced pantomime over the Christmas period. It will also support a range of additional safety features in relation to Covid-19 and will underpin The Atkinson’s operating costs, creating a model going forward. Despite the restrictions the venue is still able to exhibit work by international artists such as Rui Matsunaga, Wilhelmina Barns Graham and a touring exhibition of books, Cats on the Page, from the British Library. A planned programme of talks and lectures is migrating online with an appeal for donations to its development trust as well pay per view webinars with specific learning groups such as the Arts Society.
Tanya Wilcock, head of communities at Sefton Council, said: “The substantial funding awarded to The Atkinson from the Cultural Recovery Fund will ensure local people from across Sefton and the wider Liverpool City Region have access to high quality arts and culture through this challenging time.”
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “This funding is a vital boost for the theatres, music venues, museums and cultural organisations that form the soul of our nation. It will protect these special places, save jobs and help the culture sector’s recovery.
“These places and projects are cultural beacons the length and breadth of the country. This unprecedented investment in the arts is proof this government is here for culture, with further support to come in the days and weeks ahead so that the culture sector can bounce back strongly.”