With War Horse and Matilda bringing in the big bucks for the National Theatre, more subsidised theatres are being encouraged to self-produce in the commercial arena. It’s a brilliant innovation, says Matt Trueman, but the fall-out could be disastrous.
Self-producing has become the norm. Subsidised theatres with a hit on their hands are increasingly transferring their hits by themselves, either single-handedly or in partnership with a commercial producer. Consensus has declared this a very good thing indeed.
Rightly so, for the most part. The National and the RSC are thriving off the back of War Horse and Matilda profits. Hampstead Theatre has clawed its way back into the black, thanks, in part, to the success of Sunny Afternoon. The Royal Court recouped its costs for The River in only six weeks. (Such is the Hugh Jackman effect). Such profits have helped Britain's subsidised theatres to more than offset funding cuts and support artistic risks. Without War Horse, for example, there would have been no Shed.
The model dates back to The History Boys. In 2006, the National's then executive director Nick Starr pushed for the NT to transfer Alan Bennett's play into the West End itself. "Our charitable objects do not prevent us from doing this", he explained at the time, arguing that the financial benefit "could be very significant indeed". As has proved the case and so strengthened the consensus on self-producing.... Keep reading on What's on Stage