When the curtain comes down on The Epstein Theatre later this month, it’ll be a final act that few saw coming.
From the outside, the distinctive performance space, hidden up two flights of stairs within the Grade II listed Hanover House, was finding momentum in the years after the pandemic. Its offering of local and touring productions was playing to audiences of around 80% capacity and provided a midsize venue for those honing their craft.
An established hub for entertainment since 1913, the theatre itself was often at the centre of the narrative - battling threats of closure down the decades. But it always seemed to find a way through.
READ MORE: Liverpool's Epstein Theatre to close its doors for good
Now, according to its current Artistic and Communications Director Bill Elms, it has “hit a brick wall”. Seemingly a twist in the tale after a positive few years, its fate was said to have been decided back in 2021 when Liverpool City Council confirmed it could no longer offer financial support beyond 2023.
This followed a 2018 agreement struck between Epstein Entertainments Ltd, Liverpool City Council and a commercial property landlord which owns the lease to the building but subleases the theatre back to the entertainment company. As part of the management agreement, the council was to cover a proportion of the rent, service charge, utilities and maintenance work.
The local authority has financially supported the venue since the 1960s and its most recent expenditure on The Epstein was in excess of £100,000 per year. However this funding has now come to an end, along with the management agreement.
The entertainment company said requests for council support in the region of £50,000 a year for the next five years were made but were ultimately unsuccessful. The Epstein Theatre will now close on Friday, June 30.
Liverpool City Council said that this was “not an easy decision.” A spokesperson added that the authority is “a huge supporter of the city’s cultural sector and continues to annually invest millions of pounds supporting dozens of venues and organisations.”
Only four weeks ago the city made headlines across the world for its exemplary hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest. But with the confetti hoovered up and staging packed away, the fate of The Epstein reflects the difficult landscape Liverpool’s cultural institutions have to battle month to month, year to year.
The city may feast on culture when big events roll into town, but those which remain, in some circumstances, have to live hand to mouth. Unlike the bars, restaurants, cafes and pubs that populate the city centre, feet through the door and bums on seats isn’t always enough to keep the doors open.
Many of the major cultural attractions in the city rely on streams of funding to deliver their programmes and remain in business. So when these dry up or are not continued, days in operation can become numbered.
This is now sadly the case for one of the oldest theatres in the city. The departure of music venues across the Liverpool city centre in the last decade also reflects the stark financial challenges, as well as the pace of redevelopment at the cost of culture.
Liverpool City Council has explained its position in this instance, with Cabinet Member for Culture, Cllr Harry Doyle, adding on Twitter that the authority "acting as a middle man between a landlord and a private limited company, no matter how great [the theatre is], is not sustainable." Also faced with enormous budget cuts in recent years, drawing a line under The Epstein’s funding may be understandable.
But without its preservation and the safekeeping of other cultural institutions, what keeps Liverpool afloat and relevant until the next Eurovision lifeline rolls around? Art, music and theatre has been a lifeline for the city for decades, but while it has offered salvation and strengthening of identity, its hold hasn’t always been secure. With the impact of Eurovision still fresh in the mind, now may be the time to consider if this can change.
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