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Tiristan Bates Theatre            Photo: Alan Reich                 

The Foundation

The Royal Victoria Hall Foundation awards between twenty and thirty grants each year to smaller scale professional theatre projects based in London. There are two rounds of funding, with deadlines in February and August.

The Foundation has two major aims: to help professional productions in need of financial support and to introduce high-quality live performance to groups who are not traditional or regular theatregoers.

Examples of recent grants include to the Hampstead Theatre towards the installation of a 4-way mic system; to the Battersea Arts Centre to enable disadvantaged local schools to attend performances; to the Box Clever Theatre Company towards the costs of a tour for a play aimed at 8-10 year olds; to In Toto Theatre Company towards lighting and sound equipment; to Blue Hug Theatre Company for a production at The Oval House; to Paines Plough towards performances at The Trafalgar Studios.

Also, we awarded a grant to the Soho Theatre towards their production of 'That Pesky Rat'. The director, Jon Lloyd, said:

 "I'm delighted that the Royal Victoria Hall Foundation has helped Soho Theatre for a third time; we value their continued support for our work for children and young people... 'That Pesky Rat' is a production aimed at 3 to 8 year olds and their families, often an audience that gets left behind at Christmas shows. I've directed and written a lot for children and love it - children are the best, most challenging audience there is; they're curious, open-minded, vividly imaginative... The grant from the Royal Victoria Hall Foundation will enable us to ensure the quality and production values of this show will be as high as any show we present here at Soho, and offer additional opportunities such as workshops with children from the local Soho Family Centre."

Also, the Foundation funds the Lilian Baylis Awards for promising students who attend the accredited drama schools in London. The grants are made at the end of the students' second year to ease the financial pressures in their final year of study. Each student is recommended for an award by their drama school. We are sorry but this scheme is not open to general applicants. Please note that we do not make grants to individuals for drama training.

The Foundation is funded from the invested proceeds of the sale of The Old Vic Theatre in 1982 plus subsequent gifts and bequests. It has existed as a charity since 1891 and still owns the Theatre's archives from 1818-1963, which are housed at The University of Bristol Theatre Collection.