NATIONAL TRUST SAVAGED FOR 'PULLING RUG FROM UNDER' THEATRE PRODUCTION

• Brownsea Open Air Theatre (BOAT) has been running every year since 1964

The National Trust has 'pulled the rug' from under a 60-year-old theatre production on an idyllic island, claiming the shows threaten the landscape.

Brownsea Open Air Theatre (BOAT) attracts 4,000 visitors each summer to their Shakespeare performances in a temporary auditorium on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset.

The theatre company is award-winning and its trustees were invited to King Charles' and Queen Camilla's Shakespeare celebration at Buckingham Palace last year.

But now the National Trust has told the company, which has been running since 1964, to scale back the productions and remove the temporary auditorium as it is allegedly having a negative impact on the protected landscape.

Roy Sach, the chairman of the trustees, said: 'We had a meeting with the National Trust and they told us they no longer wanted us to use an auditorium.

'There's been an auditorium put up every year since the 1960s but they now say it has an impact on the environment.

'I am a big believer in sustainability but a month after we've packed up you would never had thought we were there in the first place.

'We feel like we have had the rugged pulled from under our feet by the National Trust.

'The National Trust, which I have been a member of, is all about history and culture, and preserving that important past.

'We see ourselves as intrinsically linked to the island as the National Trust. We have both been there since the start.

'This is our passion and we feel privileged to perform in such a beautiful place, and it is sad to think this could be the end.'

Before Covid, BOAT, which has ties with the Royal Shakespeare Company, had been in talks with the National Trust about developing a natural amphitheatre on the island that could have been hired out to other organisations - but the plans stalled due to the pandemic.

Now The National Trust wants the 500 audience members to bring their own chairs or sit on rugs on the grass.

BOAT includes the cost of the ferry trip from Poole Quay to Brownsea Island in the £30 tickets and said the new proposals would make its productions totally unworkable.

The scaled-back shows would mean reduced ticket prices and the charity would struggle to break even.

They also said it would be a logistical nightmare for the hundreds of people to have to cram their own chairs on the small ferry.

As a result, the charity announced that this summer's sold-out production of Macbeth will be their last, ending a run stretching decades.

Mr Sach said the National Trust had left them in an impossible position.

He added: 'We are a thriving and successful theatre company. Every show we have done so far has sold out and this year we have broken records on ticket sales even before people realised it was going to be our last show.

'We are a charity we don't make any money from it. Anything we make goes to putting on next year's show and we give anything left to the National Trust which stands at £300,000.

'I always considered it to be a mutually beneficial arrangement.

'But we were asked in November to stop what we were doing and revert to a much smaller and lesser type of production, which we couldn't see how we could make it financially viable.

'Being on an island costs a lot of money to get people there.

'The ferries provide little space for cargo so the idea of 180 plus people bringing their own picnic furniture onto the boat and then the chaos of getting off as people try to access their own kit in a small space would drastically disrupt sailing times.

'To do a much smaller performance with a flat-packed stage and people sitting on the grass, we just don't know what audience we would get because people have been used to us putting on a full-on show with full set and a stage and lights.

'We would probably have to charge people less but still have to pay for the ferry, it would be a definite risk just to break even.

'People have been asking how can this be happening and how can we complain to the National Trust?

'They should let us keep doing what we are doing because we are successful at it. We have a very faithful and enthusiastic audience base.'

Brownsea Island is the largest of the five main islands in Poole Harbour.

It is a Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is where Lord Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scouting movement in 1907 and is a haven for wildlife.

Theatregoers, including National Trust members, have criticised the trust for their 'incredibly shortsighted' decision which they said was the 'nail in the coffin' for Poole.

After the National Trust took over the running of Brownsea Island in 1962, discussions with a local theatre company led to a performance of The Tempest in 1964.

The two organisations have worked together ever since.

Tanya Richards, who has been watching Shakespeare performances on Brownsea Island for nearly 40 years, said: 'I am so sad to hear this.

'My parents brought me and sister to Brownsea to see our first ever Shakespeare nearly 40 years ago. I now take my children.

'The island setting, boat trip over and time on the island before the show has always been a very large part of a magical evening.

'A perfect spot of grass is all very well but not if no one goes to the island to see it.'

Linda Kirkman said: 'An unbelievably short-sighted decision on the part of the National Trust.

'To so many people Brownsea Island means just one thing - BOAT, and the amount of publicity the NT has received because of BOAT is immeasurable.

'Having had the joy of seeing so many of their productions almost from the beginning of their existence...I know how much this unique, near-professional company will be missed.'

The National Trust said they still hoped to work with BOAT on future plans for a natural amphitheatre on the island.

A National Trust spokesperson said: 'We have a long history of partnering BOAT (Brownsea Open Air Theatre) to deliver Shakespeare performances on the island over the summer months.

'The performances will continue in July/August 2024.

'However, we will be having a fallow year in 2025 whilst we consider a number of options for the future of performances on Brownsea Island.

'These options will take into account the impact of the productions on Brownsea Island's resources, visitors and on its nature and wildlife and status as a National Nature Reserve and site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

'We hope to continue our long history with BOAT on future plans for a natural amphitheatre on the island.'

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2024-04-29T15:30:36Z dg43tfdfdgfd