Barking's Broadway theatre left reeling as council withdraws £331,000 subsidy

Negative reviews for decision by London borough of Barking and Dagenham to stop funding well-regarded arts venue

The Broadway theatre in Barking will struggle to survive after losing a large council subsidy. Photograph: Graeme Robertson

It is the quietest week of the year at the Broadway theatre in Barking, Essex. The Christmas tree has being taken down and the auditorium is being cleared up after the organised mayhem of the panto.

It had been a good year: about 250 professional shows, audiences up by a quarter from the year before and even a financial surplus.

A few weeks ago the venue was preparing to enter the new year with vigour, buoyed by a declaration of faith from Arts Council England, which awarded it a 53% funding increase last March.

Now something like despair is in the air. Before Christmas, the cash-strapped Labour Barking and Dagenham council dropped a bombshell – it plans to end the theatre's £331,000 subsidy from April

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jan/09/barking-broadway-theatre-subsidy-cut?INTCMP=SRCH

Who knew? Scotland and Ireland love The Iron Lady

Polarising Thatcher biopic stands up well in multiplexes against M:I 4 and Sherlock, but The Artist beats her at the arthouse

Those who loathed her while she was in power would surely prove highly resistant. But her supporters might consider the film's depiction of her dementia to be an affront to her dignity.

Despite the enormous amount of publicity attracted by Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady, it was always hard to predict how the film would perform at the box office.

For those reasons, even the most optimistic predictions for debut weekend would surely have fallen well short of £2m. The Iron Lady's actual opening salvo of £2.15m is a happy outcome for distribution partners Pathe and Fox, as is the screen average of £4,901. Top site is Odeon West End (£49,332), top arthouse is Curzon Mayfair (£29,706), and top venue outside London, counter-intuitively, is Cineworld Glasgow Renfrew Street (£17,978)