National Theatre Renames Cottesloe After Benefactor

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 161 months ago
National Theatre Renames Cottesloe After Benefactor

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The National Theatre is renaming its Cottesloe Theatre the Dorfman Theatre after Travelex chairman Lloyd Dorfman gave £10m towards the NT's refurbishment. With arts funding cut and government plans to encourage US-style philanthropy to fund culture, we should probably expect more of this kind of thing. Should philanthropy be, as Michael Billington thinks, an altruistic gesture, with no expectation on the receiver to offer any kind of reward? If the National wanted to rename a theatre, would it have been better to go the way of the West End and call it the Alan Bennett? Or doesn't it matter a bit what a theatre is called?

In truth, this renaming is probably less to do with a one-off gift and more about Travelex's long-term partnership with the NT and its cheap ticket scheme, but it does make us wonder how long it will be before the International Banking Services Inc Theatre signs go up somewhere in Covent Garden. (Photo by Mr.Zak from the Londonist Flickr pool)

Last Updated 29 October 2010