GWENT Theatre, which faces the axe after its funding was pulled, put on what could prove to be its last-ever public performance at the Eisteddfod yesterday.

But the company’s chairman said it will not go without a fight and is doing everything it can to get the decision to scrap its £255,113 funding reversed, or it faces extinction before Christmas.

The theatre group, along with Ebbw Vale’s Beaufort Theatre, Abergavenny’s Borough Theatre, Monmouthshire’s Danceblast, the Newport Museum and Art Gallery and Blackwood Miners’ Institute will see their combined revenue funding of £465,613 pulled by April following a decision by the Arts Council of Wales pulled funding for 32 organisations.

It said it needed to reduce or stop funding some groups so it could properly support the remaining 71.

Yesterday, three actors staged a show in the Theatre based around the experiences of three youngsters evacuated during the Second World War. Called Dan Gysgod Rhyfel, it is based on Philip Michell’s Home Front.

Chairman Gregg Taylor, who lives in Pontypool, said the company does have a reduced schedule of school performances starting in September, but yesterday could yet prove to be its public swansong.

Gwent Theatre is appealing against the decision to cut funding following a spending review, but if this is unsuccessful, Mr Taylor said he will have to start sending out redundancy notices to the six permanent staff within weeks and admits the company would cease to exist by Christmas.

He said: “We can’t possibly afford to run without this funding, this might be the last performance we ever do, we hope it’s not the case.”

Gwent Theatre was established in 1976 and its travelling productions reach more than 20,000 schoolchildren in Gwent every year. As well as the Arts Council cash, it gets £43,390 from Monmouthshire and Blaenau Gwent councils.

Mr Taylor said if Gwent Theatre goes, Gwent Young People’s Theatre would find itself in trouble as it often relies on the company’s expertise in staff, lighting and equipment to help it get by.

“There’s a real risk Gwent Young People’s Theatre could close as well, which would be devastating,” he said.

Mr Taylor also said if the company no longer exists, it would “never be rebuilt” and could not simply be replaced by a different body as it has taken years of hard work to get the infrastructure in place.