Independent theatres ‘face closure without strong Christmas’

Two in five independent theatres in the UK fear closure without strong ticket sales this Christmas, according to a recent survey.

Most of the theatres surveyed said they hoped to generate around a quarter of their annual revenue over the festive period, but advance ticket sales suggest that some may struggle to achieve this.

Three-quarters of respondents said that general ticket sales are yet to bounce back to the levels seen before Covid.

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The survey by website company GoDaddy contacted 50 members of the Society of Independent Theatres (SIT) across the UK.

All the theatres had a capacity of 300 or less.

Christmas shows cancelled

John Plews, SIT Chair, told Arts Professional that fears about the financial viability of Christmas shows has led to fewer productions from independent theatres this year.

He said: “Some people have just cancelled their Christmas show or decided not to do one because it’s just too high a risk.

“Christmas shows tend to be a little more extravagant, you spend more money up front – you can’t really do a two-hander as your Christmas show, even in a small pub theatre.”

Plews, who runs Upstairs at the Gatehouse, an independent theatre in Highgate, North London, added that many venues have had to cut cast numbers for this year’s Christmas shows.

“We’ve cut the cast down from 12 to six in order to save money. And that’s what a lot of independent theatres are doing.”

He added that savings were also being made on musicians, with many independent theatres cutting the numbers down to the bare minimum – although Plews, who is directing 60s musical Summer In The City for his venue’s Christmas show, said he would still be using a full band of five musicians.

Other ways theatres are cutting costs is by not taking out paid-for advertising in local newspapers, relying instead on social media and word-of-mouth.

Plews added that he had also saved money by reducing the print run for leaflets and not paying for them to be distributed to pubs, cafes and other venues.

Consumers cut back

The survey findings come as research suggests that consumers are cutting back on spending on cultural events such as Christmas shows.

A consumer survey of 2,000 people by Mortar Research, again commissioned by GoDaddy, found that ticket sales are set to drop by around a third this year compared with pre-pandemic levels.

Just 40% of respondents said they expected to support their local venue’s festive production. In 2019 this figure was 60%.

Three in five (61%) said the reason for cutting back on cultural activities was the cost-of-living crisis.

Plews said that early sales for the Christmas show at Upstairs at the Gatehouse were down by 30% compared with pre-Covid levels, even though ticket prices have increased by just £1 since last year.

Luke Mallison, Executive Director of Bristol Improv Theatre, told Arts Professional that while many theatres were still feeling the impact of Covid, the newest and biggest challenge was the impact of rising prices.  

In particular, while ticket sales were holding up for the Christmas show at the 100-capacity theatre, spending on secondary items such as drinks at the bar and additional donations to the theatre had decreased significantly.

Mallison added that even though Bristol Improv Theatre's energy bill is fixed for another year, the venue was still feeling the impact of the energy crisis through increased costs in its supply chain.

Hit on all sides

Plews believes that this Christmas theatres are “being hit on all sides: there’s still Covid which continues to be a problem, there’s the increase in energy costs, and now there’s the rail strikes.

“The strikes are particularly bad for London theatres because a lot of people come into the city for shows at Christmas.”

He said that theatres face a “huge dilemma” of whether to “cut your prices to attract more people or do you put your prices up because you’ve got more costs.”

If independent theatres are forced to close in the new year, Plews said the main cause will be the increase in energy costs, "unless we get some government support".

He continued: “Upstairs at the Gatehouse is a really good example of this.

“We’ve got four months to run on our fixed rate. We’ve just had the quote for what it will cost from March, and it goes up from £7,000 a year to £26,000.

“There are some venues whose fixed rate ends on 31 December. They’re not looking forward to the new year.”

Vital period for theatres

Theatres Trust Director Jon Morgan said this is a "vital period" for many UK theatres that "depend on the pantomime or Christmas show to generate the income to sustain them through the rest of the year".

"Theatres are feeling the impact of energy price increases alongside wider cost-of-living increases and are not seeing audience numbers return to pre-pandemic levels – on average audiences outside of London’s West End are down 17% on pre-pandemic."

He added: "Theatres Trust, along with other colleagues in the sector, has been making the case to the government for the theatre sector to be one of the industries eligible for a continued energy price cap from April, or other government support fund.

"Alongside the extension of the business energy price cap for theatres, a timely investment of public resources to help theatres implement building energy reductions in time for next winter could make all the difference to the survival of our unrivalled network of theatres and arts centres across the UK."