Future of Easter Play thrown into doubt over funding crisis
It is a dramatic spectacle that has been played out before thousands of spectators in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle for nearly 20 years.
But now one of Scotland’s biggest open-air theatre events is facing the axe after organisers admitted they were struggling to find enough financial backing to continue telling the story of Easter.
Audiences of up to 3,000 have flocked to Princes Street Gardens in the heart of the Scottish capital for the annual free performance on Easter Saturday.
However Edinburghbased company Cutting Edge, which was founded nearly 30 years ago, has warned churches across the city that the Easter Play event is “in jeopardy next year and beyond”.
The group says it has become increasingly difficult to attract support due to concerns that funding will be seen to be promoting a religious message.
Cutting Edge says it is also finding it increasingly difficult to meet the estimated £25,000 cost of staging the show because the number of trusts, foundations and trusts willing to pledge support has dwindled “significantly” in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
The company – which specialises in community theatre initiatives and events, working with the disability sector and projects within the justice system – says its future has been put at risk after being repeatedly turned down for Creative Scotland funding.
Edinburgh’s Easter Play is staged by a community cast drawn from across the city, with a professional actor playing Jesus. More than 40 performers will appear in the latest production, which will focus on the women who were part of Jesus’s life.
The Princes Street Gardens event is believed to be the only large-scale openair Easter Play being staged in Scotland this weekend. However Suzanne Lofthus, the theatre company’s artistic director, said this Saturday’s show will be the last unless new financial backing can be found.
She said: “The funding situation is really quite dire at the moment, especially in the arts. At the moment, we’ve no money to put on the event next year. Some of our main funders who have supported us for years have indicated this will be the last year they can fund us.”