British theatres bring array of new shows, but are ‘in a precarious position’

On Saturday night, BBC One viewers will see stars from some of the West End’s biggest shows celebrate the magic of British theatre.

The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals will showcase one vibrant and thriving side of it.

However, behind the sequins and bright lights, a very different story is being told about the state of the wider industry.

British theatre is “dying” and “in a dreadful state”, its demise hastened by the dominance of TV and streaming, The Times arts columnist Richard Morrison wrote last week.

“Those theatres not facing closure because of local authority budget cuts, or cracks in their concrete, are struggling to attract audiences for anything except musicals and famous plays featuring famous actors.”

In The Stage, Lyn Gardner recently wrote that the industry “thrives on the illusion of confidence” – but it may be “time to raise the alarm of what is at stake and the reality facing many venues”, particularly outside London.

Words like “challenging”, “volatile” and “unsustainable” feature in some theatres’ annual accounts, which have been filed in recent weeks. Some have changed their programming to do more “popular, familiar, crowd-pleasing work”.

Like most walks of life, arts venues have been hit by inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, and are still dealing with the fallout from Covid. High ticket prices put many people off.

Some councils, like Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Somerset and Suffolk have proposed to slash or remove arts funding as they navigate their own financial woes.

While inflation has risen, Arts Council England grants for many have barely increased for a decade. National Theatre Wales has controversially lost its subsidy from the Arts Council of Wales. Creative Scotland has received a big cut from the Scottish government.

“I think it’s fair to say that theatres right across the country are in financial difficulty,” Tamara Harvey, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new joint artistic director, recently said.

Venues have two choices, she said. “Either you hibernate and hunker down and cut your activity, or you are ambitious and try and drive forward and do more, whilst also being as responsible about costs as you possibly can be. We’re doing the latter.”

There are financial challenges, but the suggestion that theatre is dying “couldn’t be further from the truth”, according to Stephanie Sirr, chief executive of the Nottingham Playhouse and joint president of UK Theatre.

Audiences have returned since the pandemic, she says, and adds: “Ticket income has gone up, but because costs have gone up, you are in a more precarious position.

“So in theory, this is a golden age for theatre. People love going to the theatre. They do buy tickets to new writing. So there’s lots of really interesting, relevant new work being made every year. That all feeds into the West End, where the tills are also ringing. So that’s all good.

“The two problems are – the cost of doing quality work has gone up massively, and local authority funding is disappearing.”

A glance at the listings demonstrates that lots of exciting new plays and musicals are being made, although the “illusion of confidence” being shown on stage may still not fully reflect the reality off it.