CUTS have put an Oxfordshire theatre group in ‘severe jeopardy’ after it lost 60 per cent of its income.

Yesterday Arts Council England (ACE) announced which projects would receive cash after its budget was slashed by £100m.

More than 200 groups nationwide missed out on funding for 2012 to 2015.

Oxfordshire Theatre Company, which has been touring the county for 30 years, has missed out on funding.

It had applied for £188,000 funding each year until 2015.

The cash has made up about 60 per cent of its income for 20 years, with the rest coming from grants, fundraising and performance fees. Administrative director Louise Wiggins said: “We are devastated by this decision. The long term future of Oxfordshire Theatre Company is in severe jeopardy.”

She added: “At the moment we tour to more than 50 communities in Oxfordshire and we do not know how many we will be able to do now.

“It is really sad and we have to spend some time reflecting and planning for the future.

“We could be in a worst-case scenario situation.”

She said the company would also lose half of its £60,000 grants from local councils from next month.

It is understood other arts organisations across the county lost out on funding, while some did not receive as much as they hoped from ACE.

Pegasus Theatre in East Oxford will receive £275,000 less than it wanted over the three years. Spokesman Gill Jaggers said ACE cash made up 60 per cent of its funding but the company had braced itself for cuts.

She said: “We knew there was a funding haziness and we have been planning ahead on how we can develop and grow with less money coming in.”

Modern Art Oxford will get £400,000 less than hoped. It has been receiving the cash since 1966, and this year will get £871,209.

Oxford Contemporary Music and Oxford Playhouse are two organisations which will get more cash.

But the Playhouse’s new resident company Shared Experience, which will get £367,289 this year, will no longer receive any money.

Chipping Norton Theatre lost its £40,000 annual ACE money three years ago.

Artistic director John Terry said: “It will be very difficult and there will be all sorts of places closing down.

“But it is possible to survive without Arts Council funding and we are a good example of that.”

WINNERS AND LOSERS

  • Oxfordshire Theatre Company – applied for £188,000 a year over the three years but will receive nothing.
  • Pegasus Theatre – will get £294,000 this year, will get £298,000 in 2012, £305,000 the next year, and £313,000 after. It applied for £1,191,169 over three years but will get £916,000. It has had ACE funding for more than 15 years but not always every year.
  • Modern Art Oxford – applied for £3,131,810 over the next three years but will get £2,733,627. It has been receiving the cash since 1966 and currently gets £871,209. Will get £901,000 in 2012/13, £901,000 in 2013/14, and £931,000 in 2014/15.
  • Oxford Playhouse – will this year get £278,918, £372,000 in 2012/13, £390,000 in 2013/14, and £396,000 in 2014/15. But missed out on an extra £60,000 it wanted over the three years.
  • Oxford Contemporary Music - got what it applied for - funding went from £90,000 to £125,000 for the three years. ACE cash makes up 50 per cent of its income.
  • Modern Poetry in Translation – will get £40,000 each year. This year it is getting £29,000.