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Museums and Galleries: Theatre

Volume 459: debated on Thursday 26 April 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) museums and (b) theatres (i) opened and (ii) closed in (A) the United Kingdom, (B) each region and (C) each London borough in each month of the last five years. (132140)

Museums and the arts outside England are devolved matters. Information on local authority funded museums and theatres, or independent museums and theatres, is not held centrally. Four branches of DCMS-sponsored museums have opened in the last five years: The Churchill Suite (April 2003) together with The Churchill Museum (February 2005) at the Cabinet War Rooms, Whitehall, part of the Imperial War Museum and located in the London borough of Westminster; The Museum in Docklands (May 2003), part of the Museum of London Group and located in the London borough of Tower Hamlets; the Imperial War Museum of the North (July 2002) in the north- west; and Locomotion (September 2004) in the north-east, a branch of the National Museum of Science and Industry.

Two branches of DCMS-sponsored museums have closed in the last five years: The Museum of Liverpool Life (June 2006) in the north-west, part of National Museums Liverpool, but with a new Museum of Liverpool scheduled to open in 2010; and the Theatre Museum (January 2007) part of the Victoria and Albert Museum and located in the London borough of Camden.

Two Arts Council England-funded producing theatres have opened in the last five years: Hampstead Theatre (February 2003, London borough of Camden) and the Unicorn (December 2005, London borough of Southwark).

Five Arts Council England-funded producing theatres have closed in the last five years:

Region

Closure

London

The Bridewell (December 2004, City of London) and Southwark Playhouse (September 2006, London borough of Southwark)

North West

Chester Gateway (March 2007), but new performing arts centre scheduled to open in 2010-11.

South East

Gardner Arts Centre, Brighton (March 2007) and The Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke (January 2007, but scheduled to re-open in September 2007)