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Call the Midwife star backs fight to save theatre

Louise Hosie
BBC Scotland News
Reporting fromAberdeen
BBC Actress Laura Main smiles at the camera from the stage in Aberdeen Arts Centre, the seats of the auditorium behind her. She wears a pale lilac mohair jumper and her bobbed hair is tucked behind her earsBBC
Laura Main has joined a campaign to save Aberdeen Arts Centre after a funding cut

A star of the BBC hit drama Call the Midwife has made an impassioned appeal for funding to protect the future of a Scottish theatre which inspired her to become an actress.

Laura Main is backing a campaign to save Aberdeen Arts Centre, which is facing the threat of closure after a recent bid for £170,000 funding was rejected by the city council.

Those running the theatre say they're determined the curtain won't fall for a final time and have launched a public appeal for help.

Aberdeen City Council said the funding application submitted by the centre wasn't accepted as it didn't meet its guidance for grant-giving.

Phoenix Theatre A young Laura Main, in a bright red "Annie" wig, on stage with the cast of Annie in a youth production. The scene is set in the dorm of an orphanagePhoenix Theatre
Laura, centre, played Annie in a production at the theatre at the start of her career

The centre, which is operated by Castlegate Arts, has been staging productions since the 1960s, hosting a number of well-known amateur dramatic groups and community projects.

It has now launched a £660,000 fundraising appeal over three years, with an initial target of raising £180,000 by 1 July this year.

Main, who is from the city, and plays nurse Shelagh Turner in the popular series, featured in many performances at the arts centre as a teenager.

She told BBC Scotland News the experiences inspired her to pursue a career in acting.

"When I first stepped foot in this place at the end of the 80s, that was the moment that made my life go in a certain direction," she said.

"It's about the community, it's about coming together as a team and putting on shows.

"It's just a really incredibly special place, that means an awful lot to a huge amount of people.

"The thought of Aberdeen losing this place is quite frightening really. It would be tragic."

BBC/Neal Street Productions/Olly Courtney woman and woman hold two plates outside an old vanBBC/Neal Street Productions/Olly Courtney
Main plays Shelagh Turner in the BBC hit Call The Midwife

The Centre's Interim Executive Director, Sharon Catchpole, said the centre filled a gap in the city that other venues couldn't match.

"We've got this fantastic building but the maintenance and the cost of and heating and lighting it is significant - and rising all the time," she said.

"We have, 35 different community amateur groups that use us, 35,000 people come and see our shows, and some of those groups have 2,000 plus children who need backstage space.

"We have found ourselves in a situation more recently where funding that we were used to getting, we didn't succeed in obtaining, so that's put us in an even more precarious position."

Sharon Catchpole, in a black and white gingham shirt, sits in the auditorium at the theatre, looking solemnly at the camera. She has red curly hair and fashionable black glasses
Sharon Catchpole said running costs had risen considerably but the theatre had several years of bookings

Ms Catchpole said they still had bookings until 2027, were "very much still open", and were continuing to operate in a normal way – but they needed the public's help.

"We are looking for people to dip their hands in their pocket and please just give us a small amount. It all counts," she added.

"Just please help us to save our Aberdeen Arts Centre."

An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: "The Castlegate Arts application to the council's culture investment programme, which was considered at the budget on 5 March, did not comply with the 'following the public pound' guidance for grant giving.

"Unfortunately, the council is not able to provide any financial assistance to organisations which do not meet these national legislative requirements.

"Castlegate Arts continue to receive support from the Common Good fund to cover the costs of renting the art centre from Aberdeen City Council."

He added that council finance officers had scheduled a meeting with the centre's accountants at the end of the month.