The long-running attempt to save the Mermaid Theatre continues — with a new ally.

In the latest round in the long-running campaign to save the Mermaid Theatre, now joined by campaigners for the Westminster, which is also threatened by development, the Chairman of the Save London Theatres Campaign, John Levitt, has asked that Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for local government, get personally involved.

Although the Westminster has its champions determined to rescue it from a future as offices and flats with a smaller auditorium attached, and to revive its theatrical fortunes, it is the proposed demolition of the Mermaid that has continued to generate most opposition.

Given that the Mermaid's glory days under Bernard Miles are over thirty years ago, it is a tribute to the affection in which the City of London's first post-war purpose-built theatre is held by those who have worked there that so many well-known theatre personalities have raised their voices and fired off letters to the Corporation of London - in its defense.

by Paul Webb Theatrenow