News and Events
West End bounces back
28th Jul 2011
Theatre producers and owners had been bracing themselves for a difficult 2011 after results for the January to March period were down 6% in terms of box office and 10% in audience numbers. However, the sector has recovered in the second quarter, thanks principally to a strong performance from plays, for which attendance was up 13% on the same period in 2010 (revenue was up 20%). Musical attendances fell by 2%.
Society of London Theatre chief executive Julian Bird said he was �cautious, but optimistic� about prospects for the remainder of the year, adding that advance ticket sales are �substantially� up on both last year and 2009.
He told The Stage: �The results are really encouraging. Anecdotally, talking to other businesses, tourism is quite strong in London at the moment, but also there has been a strong roster of shows. Plays have done extraordinarily well, helped by some very strong offerings. We are optimistic - there�s a very healthy raft of shows being announced across the autumn and into the winter.
�So I think we feel quite buoyant about the autumn and winter. If our revenues are above �500 million for the third year running, then I think that would be an amazing result in this climate, given the results that are being disclosed in the retail sector and other sectors. I think it shows that London theatre is giving people something they really want and it shows that people continue to want to spend money on a great night out. But we�re not being complacent about this - we�re continuing to work very hard and things like the success of Kids Week [which just announced record results] are down to a lot of hard work by people to make it so.�
While figures for the first half of this year are still down on 2010, the drop is not as serious as had been feared. Overall, the first six months of the year are down 1.7% in terms of box office and 5% in attendances. Total revenue for 2011 currently stands at �250.5 million, meaning that it is on track to break the �500 million mark for the full year.
SOLT president Mark Rubinstein, who is himself a West End producer of shows including Butley, added: �Not only is the quarter up, but particularly in the last four or five weeks it has been very solidly up across the art forms. I think the advance is also encouraging because people talk about it all being late booking, but the reality is that - as an aggregate - we�re holding much greater advance bookings. It can only mean that we�re offering shows that people want to see.
�Given that the first quarter was quite down, it�s nice to know that we�re up again. To have regained nearly all of that ground is terrific. I think we�re on course to have another solid year. Barring unforeseen, unexpected [circumstances], we should have another good year.�
Box office figures are compiled by SOLT and relate to the 52 major theatres in the capital, including both the commercial West End and major subsidised venues in central London, such as the National Theatre.
Overall figures for Theatreland in 2010 saw theatres buck the recession, reporting record takings for the seventh year in a row, although there was a slight drop (0.79%) in attendance on 2009 levels.
Source: The Stage
