Troubled theatre prepares to shut

The Stag was reopened from the closed down Sevenoaks Playhouse

The final curtain is to come down at a revamped arts and entertainment venue in west Kent, just 10 months after its future had looked to be secure.

Kino Holdings Ltd, which runs the Stag theatre and cinema in Sevenoaks, has cited financial difficulties combined with poor trading and low ticket sales.

In September, it signed a new lease to operate the venue for 25 years.

The theatre will remain open until Sunday when Sevenoaks District Council will review its future.

Kino Holdings had been in charge of the venue on an interim basis for a year before the new lease was agreed, after it briefly closed because of earlier financial problems.

'Positive report'

The company installed state-of-the-art digital projectors in both cinemas, and the theatre started to put on performances once again.

The district council, which owns the building, said it only found out about the decision to close on Tuesday.

Councillor Elaine Bracken said the news was very disappointing.

"As of 27 May we were given a very positive report from the management of Kino about the performance of the cinema and theatre, so this has been a bit of a surprise.

"The district will have to look very, very carefully at the future of the Stag and try to decide what brought about this situation, so we are going to undertake a full review."