On 16th December 2021, Peterborough City Council announced that it would be closing the Key Theatre in January 2022. The reason given is that the theatre runs at a loss to the council and therefore needed to be closed in order to make savings given the Council's poor management of finances elsewhere. 

This petition calls on PCC to keep the theatre open and immediately look at how the building is managed (currently by City Culture Peterborough) and to speak to interested parties and theatre users to assess how the building could be better used, make more money, and truly be a local venue for arts. 

At present, the Theatre is presided over by an umbrella company who manage the goings on from afar and who have little or no experience in running a theatre venue - the so-called City 'Culture'. This umbrella organisation should be encouraging culture, not supporting the closure of one of the nicest theatres in the region, let alone the city. 

Further, there are many arts organisations and interested bodies who call the Key Theatre, home. None of them were consulted about the closure (they all found out an hour before the press release went live). The Council must engage with these groups who all have so much to offer and to invest time and energy into listening to what these groups have to say. 

Please do sign this and lets keep the Key Theatre open.