Creatives at Cambridge Arts Theatre are preparing for the venue's reopening after receiving a recovery grant of nearly £460,000.

Staff at the venue in St Edward's Passage have welcomed a further grant of £459,907 from the government’s £1.57billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF).

In October 2020, Cambridge Arts Theatre was awarded £985,000 as part of the CRF’s first tranche, which secured the theatre’s immediate future.

Dunmow Broadcast: Cambridge Arts Theatre has been awarded money as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF).Cambridge Arts Theatre has been awarded money as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). (Image: Cambridge Arts Theatre)

The second round of funding will enable the theatre to pay ongoing running costs of the building, continue to support staff as they plan for the theatre’s imminent reopening, and ensure that operations are COVID-secure as audiences are welcomed back to the theatre.

Chief executive Dave Murphy said: “Everyone at Cambridge Arts Theatre is delighted and relieved to receive a further tranche of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund.

"It has been a difficult year for the industry, but this vital grant will enable us to lift the curtain and launch our summer 2021 season.

"We are working very hard to bring the theatregoers of Cambridgeshire a fantastic, varied and entertaining season and cannot wait to welcome our audiences back to our theatre once again.”

Dunmow Broadcast: Cambridge Arts Theatre has been awarded a grant as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF).Cambridge Arts Theatre has been awarded a grant as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). (Image: DENNIS GILBERT)

Cambridge Arts Theatre was one of over 2,700 cultural and heritage organisations across the country receiving urgent support from the fund, administered by Arts Council England on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The grants and loans will help the culture and heritage sector reopen and recover from the pandemic shutdown.

The funding was reserved in the first round of the CRF to allow the government to respond to the changing public health picture.

Founded in 1936 by John Maynard Keynes, economist and founding member of the Arts Council, Cambridge Arts Theatre has helped launch the careers of theatrical luminaries such as acclaimed actor Sir Ian McKellen and Oscar-winning American Beauty director Sam Mendes.

It has also celebrated many significant cultural milestones, from Margot Fonteyn dancing her first Swan Lake to Harold Pinter’s premiere of The Birthday Party.

The last four directors of the National Theatre all directed on the Cambridge stage at the start of their careers.