Tricycle Theatre's Nicolas Kent to Step Down as Artistic Director Due to Budget Cuts

According to guardian.co.uk, Tricycle Theatre chief Nicolas Kent, one of the UK's longest serving and most respected Artistic Directors, is stepping down from the theatre he has run for 27 years as a direct result of arts cuts.  Nicolas Kent has been artistic director of the Tricycle in Kilburn, north London, since 1984, building it into a successful theatre known particularly for its political plays and culturally diverse work.

Kent told the Guardian that cuts in public subsidy and the government's emphasis on philanthropy were making the theatre difficult to maintain. "I am stepping down in March because of the cuts in government funding," he said. "The Tricycle will receive almost £350,000 less in the next financial year than we did in the last financial year from statutory bodies. Maintaining the quality of work for which we've become known is a hugely difficult task and probably more suited for newer hands." Kent says he is confident a replacement will be found to keep up the Tricycle's successes.

The theatre has become particularly known for its verbatim political plays, including Guardian journalist Richard Norton-Taylor's dramatising of the Hutton inquiry and the Macpherson inquiry into Stephen Lawrence's murder.  Its season of Afghan plays has toured the US and later this year two productions it originated, The 39 Steps and Broken Glass, will play in the West End.

Kent made his announcement on Monday 4 July.