English National Opera blamed its “challenging funding situation” for the abandonment of its first project outside London for 15 years – a co-production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo with Bristol Old Vic.
ENO said it had little choice. It was one of the biggest losers in the latest round of public funding cuts and has made balancing its books a top priority.
John Berry, ENO’s artistic director, said the company was very sorry not to be working on the project, conceived by Bristol Old Vic’s artistic director Tom Morris. “Maintaining a stable financial position is crucial to the company’s future and the ENO board and management agreed that we must reassess our artistic ambitions and align them with the funds available.”
Morris said he was sympathetic. “Obviously, the decision ENO has had to take is deeply regrettable, given the level of excitement in the city about a partnership combining Bristol Old Vic’s vision for a production of Orfeo and the resources and expertise of ENO.
“We are deeply sympathetic to ENO in their current situation and share their frustration in having to postpone their ambition to perform further throughout the UK.”
The decision shines light on a problem facing all of the national arts companies, most of which are based in London. All have seen significant cuts in public funding, and all are being expected to take more work to the regions.
ENO knew that taking its orchestra and singers to Bristol for seven performances in April was never going to be profitable and in previous years would have balanced that with the money it made from a crowd-pleaser at the Coliseum.
Withdrawing from Orfeo saves £200,000. Not a vast sum in the scheme of things, but ENO, which reported a loss of £2m two years ago, has made a commitment to balance its budget and £200,000 could make the difference in doing that.
In July, ENO had its annual Arts Council England grant cut from £17.2m to £12.4m. But the pill was sweetened with a one-off £7.6m transitional funding to help it move to a new business model that the company hopes will put it on a more secure financial footing in years to come. That includes staging West End musicals and opening up the Coliseum’s bars and restaurants more regularly – projects that will not bear immediate fruit.
Morris, meanwhile, remains hopeful of getting his Bristol Orfeo off the ground with new partners.
“Bristol Old Vic remains committed to bringing an innovative and accessible production of this exquisite opera to our beautiful theatre, and we will continue to explore ways of achieving this within the next couple of years.”
Tickets had already been on sale and full refunds and transfers are being offered.
See also:
Comment by Kate Molleson: The wrong decision
• This article was amended on 28 November 2014. An earlier version said that ENO would have taken its orchestra, chorus and singers to Bristol. There were no plans to take the chorus.
