UK Theatre Funding Bruhaha

The Arts Council may have pulled a fast one on some English theatre companies, including London's lauded Bush theatre.

A surprise round of proposed grant cuts to regularly funded theaters is causing upset throughout the U.K. legit world.

In its spending proposals for 2008-09, the government had told Arts Council England, the funding body for the arts, to budget for cuts of up to 7%. Yet in the sums announced on Oct. 12, the council actually received an unexpected uplift in funds.

Two months later, however, 195 companies received letters announcing either reductions to or total elimination of their grants.

Read on, in Variety...