Campaigners are warning of a “catastrophic loss to the acting industry and the arts” following the closure of one of London’s best-known training theatres.
The Actors Centre moved to a site in Covent Garden in 1994, thanks in part to a fundraising effort by acting great Sir Anthony Hopkins.
The theatre, located at 1A Tower Street, at one point held over 1,700 workshops every year and had around 5,000 members. Actors at the centre in its early years included Sir Anthony, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Laurence Olivier.
The theatre had offered low rent and a 999-year lease, but became the Seven Dials Playhouse (SDP) in 2021 and later sold the lease for £3.6 million in September 2024. This was to "generate new revenue streams and build a sustainable future, following the collapse of the old membership and training model".
Despite “extensive efforts to stabilise the organisation”, the SDP was liquidated, leaving 13 staff members without work. Thousands are also owed to contractors.
The closure on March 31 was “an incredibly painful moment”, SDP CEO Amanda Davey said.
In a statement following the closure, Ms Davey said staff had shown “extraordinary compassion, professionalism and resilience through an exceptionally difficult period”.
"Seven Dials Playhouse has mattered deeply to so many creatives, independent companies and audiences, and I know this loss will be felt across our community and across the wider sector.
"While this is an immensely sad ending, I remain deeply proud of what this organisation has made possible, and honoured to have been a part of it."
In May last year, the Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into the SDP due to concerns over its long-term financial viability.
The inquiry allows the commission, an independent Government department, to determine the extent of any mismanagement or misconduct, as well as any risk to the charity.
SDP said at the time it was “disappointed” by the decision to open an inquiry, but intended to cooperate.
After the closure, a Charity Commission spokesperson said it had been “monitoring events closely” and liaising with an interim manager appointed in October last year.
They said: “It is important that we take our time to conduct a thorough investigation. We will publish a report once our inquiry has concluded, setting out our findings and conclusions, and making clear what regulatory action we have taken, and why.”
Joseph Colley, from liquidator Moore Kingston Smith & Partners, said that findings showed the SDP continuing to run “wasn’t an option”.
The loss is “devastating”, said The New Actors Centre Kata Maravan, because it was “more than a building".
"I feel anger at the loss of this massive asset that was built up for the charity over decades,” she told the BBC. “I hope that the people who did this are held accountable."
Ms Maravan said she felt the “heart” of the building had been taken away.
The New Actors Centre was launched in December last year and is now hosted by Marylebone Theatre, The Stage reported.
Harry Burton, a director of The New Actors Centre said to the BBC there is now “affordable, continuous training back on the map for the acting profession".
He said: "The people that we see every day and every night on television and in the cinemas, they are the cream of the cream and they are the lucky ones who get offered an awful lot of the work first.
"But there's a huge body of workers underneath that top layer who need to be supported, sustained, who need opportunities to create community, to be together, to make work, to try things out, to experiment, and to just hang out and have a cup of tea and have a chat and Marylebone Theatre has given us that opportunity, and we're very grateful for that."
