National Trust accused of bringing down curtain on island’s outdoor theatre
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The National Trust has been accused of bringing down the curtain on a 60-year-old outdoor theatre on a Dorset island because of concerns over its impact on the landscape.
The Brownsea Open Air Theatre (BOAT) has held Shakespeare productions on the Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour every summer since 1964, attracting up to 4,000 visitors.
But while visitors will be able to watch Macbeth this summer, there will be no performances on the island next year after the National Trust, which runs the island, told the theatre group that their temporary auditorium was having a negative impact on the landscape, a protected Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The National Trust has said the productions will be taking a “fallow year” for 2025 while the organisation considers “a number of options for the future”.
The two organisations have been in talks since 2019 over the possibility of a “natural amphitheatre” before the charity informed BOAT they needed a scaled-back approach, in which the 500 audience members should bring their own chairs or sit on the grass.
The theatre company said the move would make their productions financially unviable because of the need to cut ticket prices, and it would be logistically difficult to have guests bring their own seating on the ferry to the island.
It has said it will move next year’s production to the mainland, but fears the company may never return to Brownsea.
Roy Sach, the chairman of trustees, said: “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.
“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 a full set and a stage and lights.”
BOAT, which has ties with the Royal Shakespeare Company, accused the charity of “pulling the rug” from underneath them after attempts to negotiate with the charity proved unsuccessful.
‘Rug pulled from under our feet’
Mr Sach added: “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 have thought we were there in the first place.
“We feel like we have had the rug pulled from under our feet by the National Trust.”
BOAT live-streamed shows from the island during the pandemic.
The company’s trustees were invited to the King and Queen’s celebration of Shakespeare at Buckingham Palace in 2023, and former BOAT members have included Silent Witness actor Christopher Mellows and West End actress Lisa Dillon.
A spokesman for the National Trust said: “We have a long history of partnering BOAT 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.”
BOAT trustees have said they are committed to finding an alternative mainland home for their productions and will go ahead with 2025’s performance of The Winter’s Tale elsewhere.
