The Royal Shakespeare Company is seeking urgent savings as more than half its staff are being urged to apply for voluntary redundancy. The company has asked 420 of its 835 full-time employees to consider leaving under a voluntary scheme that runs until 5 October, in a bid to help close a shortfall estimated at between £5 million and £6 million.
The RSC says the response to the cost-of-living crisis, higher staffing costs since the pandemic, and a decline in public investment have tightened its finances. The theatre group has begun repaying a £20 million loan this year, a debt that has weighed on the balance sheet according to its latest annual report. Alongside the redundancy scheme, the RSC says it is seeking to make operational efficiencies and to generate additional forms of income.
In a joint statement, Andrew Leveson, the RSC's executive director, and the co-artistic directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey said the company must be more agile, resilient and sustainable if it is to thrive and survive. They said the structure must enable the organisation's ambition, and that the team must be relentless in pursuing efficiency while also generating new income to invest in the creation of theatre and in theatre-based learning — the company's founding purpose.
Leveson told The Stage that redundancies reflect a year-on-year gap between what it costs to run the organisation and what it can generate in income to support that. He cited Matilda, the West End show that has been a major revenue stream for the company, as having generated about £30 million, but profits from that show have slowed in the past year. He also pointed to duplication within the organisation's structures and other inefficiencies, saying there are a range of factors that have been building for some time.
The plan is to reduce the cost base, with vacancies held where possible and an emphasis on offering voluntary redundancies to as many staff as possible. If take-up proves insufficient, a compulsory redundancy scheme would begin. The RSC emphasised that it would continue to operate with vacancies in place where possible as it navigates the reductions.
The move comes as the RSC and the wider sector grapple with funding pressures that have intensified in recent years. The company said its aim remains to balance artistic ambition with financial sustainability, preserving its ability to produce plays, run learning programs and reach audiences both in Stratford-upon-Avon and beyond.
Industry observers note that the crisis at the RSC underscores broader challenges facing major arts organisations in the UK, where inflation, publicly funded support and private giving have all shifted in recent years. The company stressed its commitment to protecting core activities and investing in the kind of theatre and education that define its mission, even as it makes painful staffing choices.