The Arts Council has partially backed away from its plan to cut funding to almost 200 arts organisations in England. It is likely to grant a reprieve to several theatres, orchestras and dance groups, including the Bush Theatre in West London.

Sir Christopher Frayling, chairman of Arts Council England, confirmed at the weekend that he had reconsidered the decision to slash funding, which had drawn condemnation from the arts community.

Hundreds of actors and directors, including Kevin Spacey, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, gathered this month to protest against the cuts, labelling them destructive and saying that they would force many small groups and theatres to close.

The Arts Council had planned to cut funding from 194 groups - nearly one in five of the theatres, orchestras and other organisations that it supports. The policy was dismissed as “bollocks” by Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, while Spacey described the proposed cuts as “absolutely shocking”.

Sir Christopher told The Sunday Times that the council had reconsidered its position. “It is not the decibel count which has influenced us, but reasoned argument,” he said.

The newspaper reported that about 25 of the 194 organisations would be granted a reprieve, with speculation that the London Mozart Players, a chamber orchestra, and the Bush Theatre, which has spawned a number of acclaimed names including the writer Stephen Poliakoff, would be among the groups to escape.

A spokeswoman for Arts Council England told The Times that the final decision would not be made until its national council meets tomorrow. “We’ve always said that nothing is a fait accompli,” she said. “The proposal was just that, a proposal. We have no doubt that some of these proposals will be overturned.”

She said that the Arts Council had proposed the cuts so that its remaining clients could receive more funding. “We wanted to give them funding at a level where they would thrive rather than just survive,” she said.

Actors and directors had described the proposed cuts as the biggest blood-bath since the council was set up in 1946. Peter Hewitt, its chief executive, was subjected to a torrent of criticism and derision this month when almost 1,000 members of the arts community gathered in protest at the Young Vic Theatre in South London.

At the time Mr Hewitt spoke of the council needing to take tough decisions, of some companies having underperformed and of funding new groups to breathe life into the sector. Over the past week the nine regions of the Arts Council have considered 126 appeals from the 194 bodies that were expected to lose their funding and from the 80 that were due for some cuts. Their decisions have now been taken and will be discussed, then ratified, by the full Arts Council. Arts organisations will learn of their fate by Thursday.

As well as the Bush Theatre in West London – singled out for prise last week by Benedict Nightingale in The Times – the Northcott in Exeter is expected to be reprieved. It had been told that its grant would be cut the day after it reopened following a £2 million refurbishment. Without the Northcott, theatre-goers in Devon would have been forced to travel out of the county to see similar productions.

It is understood that the National Student Drama Festival, which helped to foster such talents as Stephen Fry, Simon Russell Beale, Rik Mayall and Timothy West, will also be spared.

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