This theatre is currently closed, officially. Unofficially, rather a lot of recording sessions and other events seem to still be going on... mostly by the BBC.

22nd NOVEMBER 2003

The Corporation Of London announced that the redevelopment plans, demolishing this theatre without replacement, have been approved.

11th APRIL 2003

MAYOR OBJECTS TO LOSS OF LONDON THEATRE

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has directed refusal of plans to redevelop the Mermaid Theatre in Blackfriars.

The Mayor, who considered the plans under his powers on strategic planning applications, has told the Corporation of London they should direct refusal of the proposed office and retail scheme because it would mean the permanent loss of a London theatre, without proper compensation arrangements to support new theatre projects in central London.

However, the Mayor has indicated that he considers the proposed scheme to have many merits and that subject to a satisfactory resolution of the theatre issue and some outstanding transport concerns, he would be prepared to let the scheme go ahead.

The Mayor said: ‘The permanent loss of the Mermaid Theatre without sufficient plans in place to support a new theatre project is not acceptable. While the Corporation has accepted the principle of a legal agreement to secure a compensatory payment of £6m for loss of the theatre, no such legal agreement is in existence and there are no clear plans on how the funds would be used to support new theatres.’

£6m would not be enough to replace the theatre but would be a significant sum to support new theatre projects, said the Mayor. His position is supported by the Theatre Trust, which has also expressed concern about the lack of transparency over how the money will be spent.

The Mayor has also directed refusal of the application on the advice of his transport body, Transport for London, due to insufficient confirmed traffic and transport improvements including the provision of a pedestrian crossing at Blackfriars Junction.

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“how can a developer whose building looks out on Tate Modern sanction destroying something which has played such a part in contemporary theatre and could do so in the future?” 

Richard Eyre
(From: Maggie Sutton, Save The Mermaid Campaign)

The "Theatres Trust" an official body supposed to protect theatres, accepted £6 million in exchange for the demolition of the Mermaid Theatre.

The Save London’s Theatres campaign has been battling to save the Mermaid since 1996.  On TUESDAY, 18 MARCH 2003 at the Guildhall, the Corporation of London Planning Committee meet to decide the fate of the Mermaid. They ACCEPTED plans from the owners, Blackfriars (PD) Ltd., to demolish the theatre so that they can build an office block and offer a £6M so-called “planning gain” to be used to promote other theatres in the City in exchange for demolishing the Mermaid.  To build a theatre such as the Mermaid today would cost in excess of £20M.

SLTC sees this as ‘blood money’ and theatre lovers throughout the land are up in arms and flooding the Corporation of London and the Theatre’s Trust with protests. To no avail. 

The brainchild of Lord Bernard Miles, honoured for bringing the Mermaid into being, the theatre was the first to be built in the City since Shakespeare’s day.  The 1959 open-stage and single tier auditorium became a model for modern theatre and it possesses the best backstage, foyer facilities and sight lines in London.

The Mermaid has been cynically and deliberately run down in recent years, but with good management it could once again be the jewel in the crown of the City’s theatres.  It is ironical that with Ken Livingstone trying to encourage tourists to visit the City and a whole stretch of the river being regenerated with Shakespeare’s Globe, the Tate Modern and the linking Millennium Bridge, the City should be contemplating the destruction of the Mermaid.