Dominic Cooke and Simon Stephens - two of UK theatre’s leading figures in new writing - have warned that cuts to arts funding will result in fewer plays and smaller casts in theatres around the country.

Cooke, artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre, has labelled the cuts “totally senseless”, while Olivier award-winning playwright Stephens has claimed they could “irreparably damage” the UK theatre scene, and new work in particular.

Stephens, who won an Olivier for On the Shore of the Wide World in 2006 and is this year’s chair of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, has argued that last year’s Comprehensive Spending Review - which resulted in Arts Council England cutting back the money it awards to regularly funded arts organisations by 15% and has seen many local councils making severe reductions to the funding they provide - will hurt the “vitality of our theatre” and affect venues’ ability to commission new work.

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