Theatre is living in the past, says Arts Council

British theatre is living in the past and is failing to attract young people, the chairman of the Arts Council of England said last night. Gerry Robinson called on the Government to pour an extra £100m into the arts to help solve what he termed a "crisis" in theatre.

British theatre is living in the past and is failing to attract young people, the chairman of the Arts Council of England said last night. Gerry Robinson called on the Government to pour an extra £100m into the arts to help solve what he termed a "crisis" in theatre.

Mr Robinson, delivering the New Statesman Arts 2000 lecture in London, said £25m of the extra funding would be used to reinvigorate British theatre.

The Arts Council receives £233m per year to distribute to arts companies. It also distributes £210m of lottery money to arts projects and new buildings.

Mr Robinson said two years ago the Government had given the arts a "big uplift" but "there is no point putting a deposit down if the balance is not then found ... The Government is now on trust to deliver financially".

He went on to describe a state of affairs in surprising contrast to recent events such as the lavish opening of Tate Modern. He said he had encountered declining provision and a lack of morale. "The conclusion, having looked in a very hard-nosed way at this sector over two years, is that the arts are fundamentally under-resourced. Galleries are dark, staff are demoralised, outreach programmes are being cancelled, new work is neglected."

He singled out theatre, arguing not just that it needed more money, but also that it needed to put its own house in order. In a sideswipe sure to anger many theatre directors, he claimed that theatre was at fault for losing a whole generation among its audience.

Some theatres are dark, he said, others have closed. Actors are working an average of 11 weeks a year in theatre, there is little new work and the numbers of productions and tours are falling.

A spokeswoman for Chris Smith, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said he was not commenting on the speech.