The Scottish theatre world is facing a mounting crisis as it grapples with the impact of dwindling ticket sales, programmes and funding, The Herald can reveal.
Cuts in the number of productions and performances, reduced investment, rising costs, audience changes and the economic climate have all been highlighted by industry leaders.
There are also growing concerns about a lack of investment in historic venues amid fears the impact of climate change on buildings "will only grow without intervention".
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The National Theatre of Scotland has warned it will have to scale back programming next year without help to address a projected deficit of £423,000 and confirmation of its long-term funding.
The company, which is about to go on tour with a new adaptation of the novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, has revealed that the value of its support slumped by 24 per cent in the space of a decade.
NTS, which is currently in its 20th anniversary year, has warned that its nationwide reach will be under threat unless its funding situation is addressed in the next Scottish Budget.
It has revealed its concerns as pressure mounts on the Scottish Government to address the long-term funding of Scotland’s five national performing companies, which say they have effectively had 15 years of standstill funding.
NTS has demanded assurances that a proposed new national company for traditional music will not be created “at the expense of those already delivering for Scotland”.
The Federation of Scottish Theatre, which works with more than 200 companies and organisations, has revealed a 14 per cent decline in the number of performances being staged and a 12 per cent slide in ticket income being generated since 2019.
Box office income from theatres across Scotland has declined by around £4 million in the space of 12 months.
It has urged action to tackle a “lack of capital investment” in historic venues and warned that the impact of climate change on the theatre sector “will only grow without intervention.”
NTS’s report for Holyrood’s culture committee has been published days after the government suggested the national performing companies will have to wait for another two years before they secure a share of promised new investment in the cultural sector.
The government says it has provided around £70m in additional funding for the arts over the last two years and has promised to roll out a further £80m by the end of the current parliamentary term.
However, MSPs were recently told that the government is carrying out a “deep dive” into the finances of each national company and that they would have to wait until 2028-29 to see any “significant uplift” in their funding.
NTS’s report states: “Our grant has fallen significantly over the last 10 years in real terms. Our current level of grant is around 24 per cent lower in real terms than in 2016-17.
“Costs have risen faster than funding. We have absorbed increases in employer National Insurance, our commitments to the real living wage and fair work, higher fees for freelance artists and crew, and rising touring costs including transport, accommodation, materials and energy.”
NTS said it welcomed the Scottish Government’s “detailed work” with each national performing company and its pledges to deliver a “significant uplift” in funding.
However, it added: “On a standstill grant, we project a deficit of £423,000 in 2027-28. Without long-term support we would have to reduce the scale and reach of our programme the year before that uplift arrives. Capacity lost in 2027-28 would be slow and costly to rebuild.
“The national performing companies carry a national remit across every part of Scotland and internationally, with clear accountability to ministers and parliament. Our work is commissioned and co-produced years ahead, and depends on stable, long-term funding.”
NTS has highlighted recent research which revealed that more than half of the UK’s subsidised theatres have forecast an operating deficit this year.
It added: “Touring to smaller towns and rural communities is most at risk, and that is the work that makes a national theatre national.”
Liam Sinclair, executive director and joint chief executive of NTS, told The Herald: "Delivery of our planned 2027 programme of productions, co-productions, community engagement and educational activity, alongside fulfilling of all our regular commitments, including support for Scotland’s theatre sector in the form of opportunities, development support, and access to rehearsal facilities and production equipment, generates a projected budget deficit of £423,000 for the financial year 2027-2028, due to the current situation of our standstill funding.
"Our core grant from the Scottish Government has fallen in real terms over the last 10 years, which together with rapidly rising costs compounds this financial position."
The FST report for the culture committee states: “There is less money flowing into our sector, and therefore less investment for future projects.
“The further impacts of people choosing to leave the sector, work not being made and organisations closing their doors are almost impossible to quantify in the long-term.
“Our members across Scotland have a huge role to play in economic development, but they can only do that with stable and reliable investment.
“Shows take time to develop and programming happens well in advance, so unexpected funding changes can have impacts for years.
“Fewer performances and productions mean fewer paid opportunities for artists, freelancers and technical staff. Sustained financial pressure also limits the capacity of organisations to invest in training, progression and workforce development.
“We ask that future funding settlements properly reflect the cost of fair work for the sector, and provide sustained, coordinated investment in technical skills, freelance careers and wider workforce development.
“We also see ongoing issues with the lack of capital investment for venues. From venues struggling to make the appropriate updates for climate resilience to venue closures, this impact will only grow without intervention.
“Venues, production, touring capacity and audience access are inherently connected: without viable spaces to rehearse, produce and present work, that work cannot be made, toured or seen.”
NTS said it wanted the culture committee to “seek assurance” from the government that the new traditional music company will be funded “in addition” to the existing five companies, which also include Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
The arts industry body Culture Counts said it welcomed the government’s commitment to create a new national performing company for traditional music.
However, it added: “This needs to be considered alongside the position of the existing national performing companies, which have experienced deep and sustained real-terms cuts in their budgets.
“How can Scotland realistically plan to expand its national company model while the companies already delivering it are being asked to do more with significantly less?
“We recommend that the 2027-28 Scottish Budget provides a long-overdue restoration of national performing companies budgets, enabling them to deliver at the scale and quality expected of Scotland's national cultural institutions and supporting the wider ecosystem in which they operate.”
Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser raised the future funding of the national companies at Holyrood with culture secretary Màiri McAllan this week, asking whether she would be taking steps to “rectify” their situation.
Ms McAllan said: “Murdo Fraser is absolutely right to highlight the importance of our national performing companies, which do a wonderful job across Scotland and in touring.
"I will be glad to engage with them as part of the budget negotiations that we will undertake shortly.”
A spokesperson for the government said: "A total of 262 cultural organisations currently benefit from the stability of multi-year funding – including many theatres and performing arts venues – thanks to Scottish Government investment in the culture and creative sector. This is more than double those which received grants under Creative Scotland’s previous core funding arrangements.
“We will continue to fund the internationally acclaimed work of our national performing Companies in 2026-27 with a view to providing additional funding in future financial years as part of the commitment towards an additional £100 million support for culture.
"Last year they shared an uplift of £1 million, following an increase of £700,000 the previous year. That’s up 9.4 per cent since 2023-24, taking funding to almost £25 million shared across the five companies.”
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