Birmingham Stage Company helped by Culture Recovery Fund

Top local theatre company saved by government aid.

The Birmingham Stage Company has described as “vital” the £132,000 package of financial support it will receive as part of the Culture Recovery Fund.

The Birmingham Stage Company is one of the world’s top theatre producers of theatre for children and their families. It has become well known throughout the country for its award-winning productions of Horrible Histories and David Walliams. This significant grant will enable the company to put on new productions over the coming months and offer stability for the future.

The company has been playing socially-distanced Horrible Histories live on stage shows since the summer but the reduced capacity that venues are able to provide has meant that income has been significantly reduced.  

The company’s actor-manager, Neal Foster (pictured) said: “This is an extraordinarily important financial boost for us at this critical time. But it’s also a show of support from which any company going through this nightmare can draw tremendous encouragement and a huge boost to our determination to get through this crisis not only intact, but with renewed vigour to provide innovative and exciting theatre.”

Since its foundation in 1992, The Birmingham Stage Company has staged over eighty productions and become one of the world’s leading producers of theatre for children and their families. The company has been producing Horrible Histories Live on Stage for fifteen years which regularly tour the UK, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. Neal has co-written and directed all of the most recent Horrible Histories shows including the Barmy Britain series.

The company has also produced three stage adaptions of books by David Walliams including the Olivier Award nominated West End hit Gangsta Granny and the world premiere of Tom Gates.