Break-in will hurt theatre charity, says CEO

A "reckless and senseless" break-in at a theatre will leave it suffering financially, its chief executive has said.

Damage at Newcastle's Tyne Theatre and Opera House has been estimated at thousands of pounds, he said.

Staff and volunteers discovered smashed glass and stolen stock when they arrived at the 1867 Café Bar at the Grade I listed building on Westgate Road on Saturday.

Jonathan Higgins said the Tyne Theatre and Opera House Preservation Trust faced the difficult decision of either making an insurance claim, resulting in increased premiums, or spending its "hard-earned and donated money" on the damage.

Mr Higgins said the damage could not be fixed quickly and easily due to the building being listed.

"The bottom line is that the charity will suffer as a result of this," he said.

"It's not like just chucking a bit of glass in your house, it has got to be the right stuff which makes it expensive.

"Any insurance claim we make has a direct effect on our premiums, so the small charity is faced with difficult decisions of making a claim or the charity has to spend its hard-earned and donated money by an act of depravity."

Significant damage was caused to the cafe, which opened last December and is named after the date the theatre originally opened.

Hundreds of pounds worth of stock was also stolen from its bar.

Mr Higgins said a rock had been used to break through the main glass window.

He said a "significant amount of blood" had been left inside and so remaining drink stock had to be thrown out due to contamination.

The theatre's box office also had to close but its other bars and foyer box office are still open.

"We are a charity and we are only here to preserve and develop this Grade I listed heritage theatre for the good of Newcastle and the surrounding communities," Mr Higgins said.

The building, which has welcomed the likes of Tom Allen, Julian Clary and Sara Millican to its stage, was funded by Victorian industrialist Joseph Cowen who envisaged a "theatre for the people".

During much of the 20th Century it operated as a cinema called the Stoll Picture Theatre, which closed in 1974.

It reopened as a theatre in 1983 but was plagued by financial troubles.

In 2008 it was purchased by Newcastle City Council, which transferred the freehold ownership to the Tyne Theatre and Opera House Preservation Trust.

Mr Higgins said staff were "thankful for all the messages of support" the theatre had received.

"We are also so touched that the theatre really sits in the heart of Geordies and the wider community."

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