The Royal Shakespeare Company still doesn’t have a London home. “The Arts Council has been too polite to issue any precise threats. Nicola Thorold, director of theatre, defers steadily to Michael Boyd and reports that the Arts Council is ‘extremely encouraged’ by the company’s success in cutting its deficit by a million pounds this year. But the implication is understood by all: the RSC’s annual grant from the Arts Council of £13m must, this year, extend to include the capital. For from London’s point of view, a whole year – described as ‘transitional’ and ‘cost-saving’ – has been written off with the Arts Council’s blessing. A period of grace on the brink of disgrace.”