All-Women Group Plans to Buy London Theater, Make It Venue for Female-Driven Shows
The West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket might become the London’s next feminist drama venue, thanks to Accalia Arts. The Guardian confirms that the all-women collective have started a crowdfunding campaign to buy the Royal Haymarket and turn it into a venue for female-led productions. The theater went on sale last month.
Inspired by social justice movements like #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #BlackLivesMatter as they’ve sparked discussion and gained momentum, the campaign was founded by Natalie Durkin, head of operations at Women’s Radio Station. “We have come together as a collective with a desire for change, to support and instigate shifts in the terrain and to do so through the powerful platform of the arts,” Accalia Arts’ Royal Haymarket GoFundMe page reads.
It continues, “We intend to create a corner that contributes to global women’s movements, with a focus on the inclusive nature of the arts … There are so many reasons why we want to make a success of this but our primary reason is uniting, as women, to instigate and inspire creative modes of change in our social standing, treatment, and power.”
Accalia Arts’ fundraising goal is £3 million (about $4.1 million USD). To date, the campaign has netted over £9,000.
In order to spread word of its Royal Haymarket campaign, the collective is taking to social media. Its official Twitter and Instagram hashtags are #Accaliaslays and #slaymarket.
Durkin acknowledges that the £3m goal will be a challenge, but believes it is possible due to the high demand for a women-led and -run theater. “With the representation of women in theater being so low, it became apparent that [our campaign] had hit a nerve,” she told The Guardian. “It is also interesting to note that the Haymarket currently doesn’t have any female management.”
Should Accalia Arts meet its goal and buy the theater, the Royal Haymarket’s board will be all-female. However, the group is committed to beginning “dialogue and conversation with men to facilitate shifts in the equilibrium.”
If the campaign isn’t successful, the group will use the funds raised to start a women-led arts festival in London.
Check out Accalia Arts’ GoFundMe page to contribute to the #slaymarket campaign.
