Baxter closes its doors until 2021 as theatre’s funding runs dry

CAPE TOWN  – Performing arts centre the Baxter Theatre is likely to only reopen in early 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, that’s according to theatre CEO Lara Foot.

The centre, which is not funded by the department of sports, arts and culture, says it has been severely impacted by the current pandemic and is calling on the support of the public to keep its doors open after the pandemic comes to an end, the theatre has said in a statement.

Unlike the Artscape Theatre Centre, the Market and other state theatres that are supported by the government, the theatre also doesn’t qualify for funding from the National Lottery Commission.

According to Foot, a few weeks prior to the pandemic, she met with the vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town on the sustainability of the Baxter Theatre, as well as discussing a way forward to becoming far less dependent on the funding from the university.

Foot added that the university allocates the centre a grant of approximately one-third of its annual operational expenses. The rest of the theatre’s expenses are paid from its annual income, which includes ticket sales, donations, theatre rentals and interest on the theatre’s Permanent Endowment Fund.