threatened with closure, a theater in Toulouse calls for help

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The end of the adventure for the Théâtre du Grand Rond? The theater on rue des Potiers, a stone’s throw from the Halle aux Grains and the Jardin des Plantes, is in any case sounding the alarm: due to a lack of financial support from communities, the 2025-2026 season could well be the last.

“The theater is in danger”

“The Grand Rond theater is in great danger,” explains Sophia Sciabica, communications manager for the establishment. Despite years of adjustment and permanent development of activity, we are faced with a budgetary impasse. Without increased financial support from its public partners (City, Department, Region, State), it will close its doors in July 2026.”

Ticket prices have already increased

For the Grand Rond team, formed as a cooperative society, the theater’s budgetary balance can only be based on its ticketing. The theater recently increased its prices, but believes it cannot do more “under pain of losing a large part of the audience”.

In 2023, the amount of subsidies received from communities reaches 235,000 euros on a budget of 750,000 euros. Or 5.20 euros per spectator. “The amount of subsidies, taking into account our activity, has always been extremely low,” explain the Grand Rond teams.

It would take 190,000 euros more

But if the economic model has held up since the opening of the theater 20 years ago, it seems to have fizzled out. The theater now estimates that it would need 190,000 euros more in subsidies per year.

Today the team is faced with a choice: go back and drastically reduce the remuneration of the artistic teams hosted or ask its public partners to go from 5.20 euros per spectator to 9 euros per spectator in public aid.

Meeting with communities

However, for the Theater, it is unthinkable to pay companies less well, so as to “not devalue the artistic teams whose defense is one of the pillars of our project”, but also so as not to weaken the artists.

At the end of October, the team met with community representatives to explain the situation to them. According to the responses obtained to date, the Department’s subsidy will remain the same as that of 2023, while that of the City should be reduced. The state and region have not yet responded.

Online subscription launched

The 2024-2025 season is assured. The teams are working on developing the following season, which will be smaller. The Théâtre du Grand Rond has launched an online subscription to obtain financial support and intends to ask the companies which will perform in 2025-2026 to accept slightly reduced conditions, in solidarity. “Holding one more season would allow us to have a little more time to negotiate with the communities“, we explain from the Grand Rond side. And thus hope to extend the future beyond the summer of 2026.

The Théâtre du Grand Rond has ten employees, all associated in this cooperative enterprise. Hundreds of artists and technicians are welcomed there each season.

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