Salisbury Playhouse Halfway to £22m Transformation Target

In just five months, Salisbury Playhouse has raised half of the £22 million needed to transform the 50-year-old theatre. Today it takes its campaign to Westminster, launching a 12-month countdown to raise the rest.

Supporters, parliamentarians and well-known figures from across British theatre will gather today at a reception in the House of Commons for the national launch of Transforming Salisbury Playhouse.

Hosted by the Rt Hon John Glen, MP for Salisbury, the event will set out the case for the vital role regional producing theatres play, with speeches from Julian Bird OBE, former chief executive of UK Theatre, and several of the Playhouse’s recent performers.

Backed so far by Arts Council England, Wiltshire Council and Salisbury City Council, Wiltshire Creative – the arts and education charity that runs the Playhouse – is aiming to raise the remaining £11 million before the end of 2027. Building work is scheduled to take place in 2028, with the Playhouse reopening in time for the 2028 Christmas show – preserving the city’s reputation for never missing a pantomime.

Rosa Corbishley, executive director, said: “Salisbury Playhouse is a local theatre with national reach. For 50 years, it has been a place people come together – more than 200,000 people a year, from families at the panto to the thousands who take part in our community and education work. As one of only three full professional producing theatres in the South West, the Playhouse is part of the backbone of British theatre. The talent and productions that begin here are seen right across the UK.

“Reaching the halfway point of our campaign in just five months shows how much people value us. Today we’re launching the 12-month countdown to reach our target in order to complete the transformation in 2028.”

The redevelopment will create a venue fit for the 21st century – environmentally sustainable, fully accessible and built to welcome everyone. For the first time, every part of the building will be accessible to artists, staff and audiences, with three new lifts, improved dressing rooms and accessible toilets. Solar panels, air source heat pumps, LED lighting and rainwater harvesting will make it more sustainable to run, while a new piazza will create an inviting outdoor space for the city.

New and upgraded technical facilities, alongside properly invested workshop and wardrobe spaces, will unlock the Playhouse’s full producing potential – enabling bolder, more ambitious work and deepening its role as a centre for skills and craft, training the next generation of theatre-makers and performers.

Gareth Machin, artistic director, said: “Every Wiltshire Creative production we put on our stage is built by our own skilled workshop and wardrobe teams. The transformation will give the next generation of theatre-makers the facilities they deserve, and give us the room to create bigger, braver work that travels across the country and beyond.”

Each year the Playhouse welcomes more than 200,000 people, and stages more than 350 performances, events, and community projects. Its pantomime alone sells more than 26,000 tickets. Through its community and education programme, Take Part, it reaches over 15,000 young people, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, those with special educational needs and disabilities, older people and those experiencing loneliness.

Over the past three years, the Playhouse has generated an estimated £40 million of economic impact for the region, with 40% of visitors travelling more than 90 minutes to attend – filling local hotels, restaurants and businesses. As one of Salisbury’s largest employers, it supports around 350 jobs and sustains a wider ecosystem of local creative talent and suppliers.

Its influence ripples out across British theatre. Stage ’65, the Playhouse’s youth theatre, counts the writer Barney Norris, director Alice Hamilton and actor David Oakes among its alumni. Directors including Luke Shepherd, Rupert Goold, Michael Grandage and Blanche McIntyre have worked at the Playhouse, and its stage has welcomed a wealth of talent from Timothy West and Prunella Scales to Hermione Norris, Ewan McGregor, Tom Chambers and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

The Right Honourable John Glen, MP for Salisbury, said: “Salisbury Playhouse is a national asset as much as a local one, and I am delighted to welcome its supporters to Westminster today. Today’s national launch puts Salisbury at the heart of the case for investing in regional producing theatre. At a time when many theatres are facing financial challenges, Salisbury has a clear, ambitious and achievable plan for its future. This transformation belongs to everyone who has ever loved this place or cares about the future of British theatre – and I hope that everyone will get behind it.”  

To find out more about the campaign or how to support it, visit https://www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk/transforming-salisbury-playhouse