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Theatre Ticket Sales - The ImplicationsDateline: 20th April, 2003The Facts In the twelve months to October last year, the number of tickets sold at theatres whose managements are members of the TMA was 7,741,586, which is a drop of 2,215,860 (a little over 22%) since 1993/4. The value of the tickets sold fell by £1,3617,604 (approximately 7%). This is partially due to a reduction in the number of performances which fell from 24,448 to 21,130 (3,318 - 13.6%), but there has also been a reduction in the number of tickets sold per performance: from 407 to 366 (just over 10%) but the average yield of tickets sold has risen from £10.83 in 1993/4 to £12.17 last year (an increase of £1.34, vastly less than the rate of inflation). The average ticket price (before discounts) was £13.63. Overall, the percentage of tickets sold has remained fairly steady (57.3% in 1993/4: 58.2% last year - not a signifcant difference). The Implications Any accountant looking at these figures would very soon come to the conclusion that theatre is not a good investment! This was confirmed in a article in The Stage for 17th April in which Anthony Field tells us that theatre "angels", whenever they do make a profit, tend to put it back into other projects which lose money and many have ended up as bankrupts because of it! It is well-known that actors and other theatre people tend to do far more than they are ever paid for - witness, for example, the number of young actors sleeping six to a floor in Edinburgh for three weeks for the joy of playing to an average audience of six. Witness, too, the number of professional, trained actors who are willing to appear in so-called "profit share" shows, which usually means that with luck they might get enough money to buy the odd takeaway or pay for their after-show beer! They do it for love. They do it because they love the business and want to be part of it. They take what work they can get. I remember many years ago working at a theatre which had in one of those dreadful "adult" shows in which there was just sufficient plot to justify the women taking off their clothes, and discovering an actress I knew and rated highly was with the company. "What on earth are you doing in a show like this?" I (foolishly) asked. "Working," was the simple reply. I'm not sure what the average wage in the UK is at the moment, but I bet the Equity rate of £255 a week is well below it - that's £6.38 an hour for a forty hour week: a young friend of mine gets £100 a night for two 40 minute singing spots in Working Men's Clubs, and she's just in the early years of her career. She is not a top club name. If theatre did not have its magic; if it didn't grab you and make you want to be part of it; if it wasn't as addictive as any Class A drug, then it wouldn't exist. Cameron Mackintosh is about to invest £30m in his London theatres. Is he doing this hoping for a major return on his investment, as a venture capitalist investing in what he hopes might be the next Microsoft does? Of course he isn't: he knows that he'll not get that money back, not in the foreseeable future - if ever. Finally... If the average seat price is £13.63 and West End shows charge around £40, there are some very cheap seats going elsewhere in the country. Provincial theatres price seats at a level which their punters can afford (or are willing to pay). That's why we need subsidy! Articles Indices:
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