The Shakespeare North Playhouse hopes to become one corner of a theatrical triangle along with Stratford-on-Avon, where the Royal Shakespeare Company has its base, and Shakespeare’s Globe in London
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThe idea is for the Shakespeare North Playhouse to become one corner of a theatrical triangle along with Stratford-on-Avon, where the Royal Shakespeare Company has its base, and Shakespeare’s Globe in London. The venue is central to plans to revive Prescot, which is in one of the most deprived bits of Britain. It is expected to bring in 140,000 visitors and add £5.4m to the local economy each year.
Under Boris Johnson the government has been keen on using cultural attractions to advance its “levelling up” agenda, to reduce inequalities between the south-east and the rest of the country. Advocates of art as a catalyst for regeneration point to examples such as the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, which opened in Gateshead in 2002, and Glasgow’s renaissance after it was named the cultural capital of Europe in 1990.
But when it comes to winning funding for projects, cultural institutions can be at a disadvantage. As well as creating jobs and luring tourists, these venues claim many intangible benefits. Melanie Lewis, the boss of the new theatre in Prescot, lists social activities to reduce loneliness among the elderly, educational programmes for local children and, most unquantifiable of all, enhanced pride in the city.
Pricing such benefits is tricky, especially if admission is free . One technique is to ask people how much they would be willing to pay for something. The answers can be used to assess what people get out of a cultural asset and to test out hypothetical scenarios that might inform funding decisions. But it is hard to imagine the benefits of something that hasn’t yet been built.In 2021 the government launched a multi-year research project into how to value the benefits of culture and heritage.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline"The play’s not the only thing"
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Shakespeare North unveils rival to London's Globe TheatreThe town of Prescot, near Liverpool, celebrates its links to Shakespeare with a £38m replica theatre.
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