Starmer told to intervene or risk Shakespearean tragedy

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to intervene as a leading theatre company has warned that even performances of Shakespeare in the EU are at risk in the wake of Brexit.

- MILLIE COOKE

White Horse Theatre, Europe's largest educational touring theatre, has provided English-language performances to schools and theatres across Europe for nearly half a century – but rising costs, logistical challenges, and the long-term instability caused by Brexit now threaten its future.

At its peak, the company employed 32 professional actors and performed for half a million students annually. Since Brexit, this number has declined to fewer than 300,000 students per year, and the company has been reduced to 24 performers. It may be cut in its entirety if the government doesn’t do more to tackle Brexit red tape for theatres, the theatre company insisted.

Peter Griffith, the founder of White Horse Theatre, told The Independent “urgent solutions are needed to ensure the survival of initiatives like ours that enrich so many lives”. He explained that Brexit has made it “increasingly difficult to bring British actors to European schools, reducing student audiences, and forcing significant price increases”.