London’s biggest fringe theatre organisation has announced its closure after “failing to secure the funding required” for its new building.
VAULT, which has put on more than 3,000 shows to an audience of almost half-a-million people since it was set up in 2012, said staff were “devastated” by the news.
Announcing the news on social media, they said: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the closure of VAULT Festival and the cancellation of plans for our new London home, after failing to secure the funding required to continue.”
The statement went on to say staff were being made redundant and that plans for a new HQ in south London that had been developed will now not go ahead.
They added: “To come so close but ultimately fall short is agonising. We are grieving what could have been and what will be lost for future generations.”
The festival, which lost its original site in Waterloo last year, has worked with playwrights who have gone on to stage shows in the West End, the Royal Court and tour internationally.
Natasha Hodgson, who co-wrote the hit musical Operation Mincemeat, said the news was “horrendous”.
She said: “Please, someone out there must be a millionaire who wants to see British theatre and comedy thrive - surely there must be a way.”
Chair of VAULT Creative Arts’ Board of Trustees Nathan Woodhead said: “While today is a sad day for the organisation, it is also a clear and damning representation of the wider challenges faced by the entire creative industries, particularly fringe and emerging artists and organisations.”
