MANAGERS at two Oxford theatres pledged to take drama out into Oxfordshire communities after getting a major funding boost yesterday.

Oxford Playhouse, Pegasus Theatre and Modern Art Oxford were among 15 successful applicants in the South East region for grants worth £2.3m over a three-year period.

While the theatres will try to encourage more people from outside Oxford to take an interest in drama, Modern Art Oxford has pledged to commission new artwork to tie in with its 50th anniversary in 2015.

Arts Council England announced the funding boost as part of a £30.5m nationwide Catalyst Arts programme, and all three organisations will now try to bring in matched funding to pay for new activities.

Pegasus Theatre in Magdalen Road, East Oxford, was awarded £120,000 to develop new approaches to fundraising.

Yasmin Sidhwa, the theatre’s head of creative learning, said: “We think it is brilliant that we got this funding.

“It will help us to develop as a theatre that produces its own shows with professional companies and artists, as opposed to buying in other company’s shows.

“We want to focus on children, families and young people and create work that also appeals to an adult audience.

“We will now set up a commissioning fund for new work that tours Oxfordshire – we want to take professional shows that we have created out into different communities.”

The new funding, provided by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the National Lottery, is good news for the organisations after their Arts Council England budgets were cut last year when the organisation lost £100m in government funding.

Modern Art Oxford was awarded £210,000 over three years from the Catalyst programme to help support new ways of generating income and commissioning artwork.

Verity Slater, director of strategy and development at Modern Art Oxford in Pembroke Street, said: “This funding will help us to test new ways of securing income for the gallery, so that we can continue to programme the very best in contemporary art for people in Oxfordshire.

“We will now be commissioning new artwork which looks forward to our 50th anniversary celebrations in 2015.”

Oxford Playhouse in Beaumont Street has been given £218,793 to boost its work with family audiences by touring more shows.

Deputy director Polly Cole said: “Getting this grant funding will help us to create more shows, which can be shown in Oxford and around Oxfordshire. Some people don’t think theatre is really for them, and by taking shows outside the theatre it makes it easier for families to see what theatre is really all about.

“This is brilliant news for Oxford – it’s a massive investment.”

Arts Council England regional director Sally Abbott said: “All the successful organisations will now be able to drive forward their existing fundraising efforts with renewed vigour.”

When ACE grants were cut last year, Pegasus Theatre applied for £1.1m over three years but was awarded £916,000.

Modern Art Oxford applied for £3.1m over three years but was awarded £2.7m, and Oxford Playhouse missed out on an extra £60,000 it wanted over three years.