UK

Battersea Power Station's Turbine Theatre to close as union raises 'serious' concerns

Josh Salisbury
Wed 16 October 2024

Artistic director Paul Taylor-Mills (Matt Writtle)

An off-West End venue has announced it will close its doors as a union said it was probing “serious concerns” about workers’ rights.

The Turbine Theatre, a 92-seater venue in a railway arch at Battersea Power Station, said it would shut after its final production at Christmas, citing the challenge of making a small theatre economically viable.

The announcement came after actors’ union Equity told members in an email last week it was probing “serious concerns” that performers and stage management at The Turbine may have been “denied important rights” of “significant monetary value.”

In a statement announcing the closure, artistic director Paul Taylor-Mills said: “As the landscape of making theatre shifts, without serious investment and philanthropy, a 92 seat space just can't work and it's time for me to focus my efforts elsewhere.”

Mr Taylor-Mills, who is also artistic director of 312-seater The Other Palace theatre in Victoria, said he was “proud” of the theatre’s work, which hosted shows such as My Son’s A Queer and I Wish You Well which have since gone on to have major runs.

“The Turbine Theatre has been an absolute labour of love,” he said, adding that his focus would now turn to The Other Palace, which is set to host the UK musical adaptation of the popular Percy Jackson series.

“It shouldn't have worked. But it did and I'm so incredibly proud of the lives it's changed and the dreams it's made come true.

“Creating this incredible venue, with the people that believed in what it could be has been a career highlight and I'm so thankful for the memories.”

The news came after the union Equity appealed for its members in an email last week to make contact if they needed support, saying it was concerned that some staff may potentially have “been denied important rights that could be of significant monetary value”.

An Equity spokesperson said: “A number of Equity members have come forward with concerns which the union is providing support on.

“We hope we can resolve the issues of concern constructively with the Turbine Theatre and Paul Taylor-Mills, and we are in contact with them to that end.”

A union spokesperson declined to give more details on what those concerns were.

The Turbine Theatre did not respond to a request for comment before publication.