London’s Gate Theatre company last week announced it will cease operations next month, bringing to an end “nearly fifty years of championing international artists, radical storytelling and new ways of imagining theatre”.

The company wrote on social media, “it breaks our hearts to make this decision”, but “for several years now, we’ve been trying to find a way to keep the Gate going in an increasingly precarious climate: without regular subsidy, with rising production costs, increasing competition for funds and, since 2022, without a permanent home”.

“We’ve adapted, changed how we work and kept making ambitious theatre”, but while “we’ve had some wonderful successes along the way, living hand-to-mouth means there’s just no way for us to continue – and so we’ve reached the end”.

For much of its history, the Gate was a performance space in West London, having been founded by Lou Stein above Notting Hill’s Prince Albert pub back in 1979. In 2022, it moved to Camden, sharing a more accessible space already operated by Theatro Technis.

But the same year Gate Theatre lost is regular funding from Arts Council England, which was a significant blow for the company. It subsequently moved to a different model producing shows at different venues, rather than having a single base in one building.

However, without the regular Arts Council support, and in an increasingly challenging economy, the company is not able to continue producing new shows on that model.

Its statement last week went on, “we are immensely grateful to everyone who has made our work possible”, including “artists, staff, trustees, funders, partners, champions and audiences”. And “to everyone who bought a ticket, made a show, sat in a rehearsal room, took a chance on an artist, wrote about a production, opened a door, gave their time: thank you”.

It then concluded, “it has never felt more important to tell stories from beyond our borders, and to be reminded that the world is much bigger, stranger and more connected than the divisions we are so often asked to believe in”.

Which means, while “devastated that the Gate is closing”, the team behind the theatre hope its spirit will live on.

And with that in mind, Artistic Lead Atri Banerjee wrote in a subsequent social media post this weekend that, “the Gate is closing, but the international, experimental and generous spirit it has championed will continue in the artists and audiences who have been changed by it”.