Why Support Us?
Red Ladder creates theatre for the many, not the few; we use art to inspire people and communities, highlight injustice and drive social change. It’s a big job – and we’d like you to join us.
Red Ladder was born in 1968 – a turbulent, era-defining year. The world was in turmoil – the Vietnam War, the Prague Spring, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood. It felt like a light was going out on the hopes and dreams of the 60s; a radical response was needed, and the arts answered. Red Ladder gave its first ever performance on the day of the Grosvenor Square anti-Vietnam protest and has carried on fighting, agitating and entertaining ever since.
We live in uncertain times again. Brexit, the rise of right around the world, Trump in The White House, globalisation, climate change and the growing gap between rich and poor.
Just as Red Ladder was needed 1968, we are needed now. More than ever there is a need for brave voices to speak out for ordinary people, to challenge the establishment and use the arts to fight for peace, equality and justice. And that’s why, when we lost our Arts Council core funding in 2014, over 400 people answered the call to ‘Save Red Ladder’.
Thanks to our supporters we lived to fight another day, but we’re far from secure. Running a radical theatre company is a difficult business, especially if you irritate the establishment rather than court it. We can no longer rely on traditional sources of funding – that’s why we need your support.
Red Ladder is a registered charity. Lots of smaller donations from many people give us financial stability and ensure Red Ladder’s fierce independence.
Help us continue to give voice to those that have none; to make great theatre for the many, not the few – join the Ladderistas or make a one-off donation today.
Become a Ladderista Today
To lose them at a point in British history where the fight against everyday inequality and everyday injustice is being lost all around us would be a genuine tragedy.