The UK has seen a precipitous drop in the production of original music theatre over the past ten years. According to recent research, the number of original productions staged by the country’s main subsidised theatres fell by nearly one-third from 2014 to 2024. The analysis looked at 40 major venues, festivals, and touring companies. These organizations get multi-million dollar, multi-year grants, steeped in tradition, from provincial Arts Councils and/or federal governments.
In 2024, the 40 highest-funded theatre companies produced a mere 229 original productions. This represented a dramatic 31% drop from the 332 productions originally mounted only a decade earlier. This decline is the cause of great concern for the sustainability and vibrancy of the UK’s theatre scene.
The study found that the theaters have received huge amounts of money. This funding is administered by the Arts Councils of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by Creative Scotland, and the Scottish Executive. Funding for the arts has not increased in over a decade. This is particularly egregious in light of the current inflationary climate and the worsening operational costs that theatre companies are dealing with.
Funding reductions have had a direct effect on their capacity to produce. Many venues have reported reductions in local council subsidies, with The Rep facing the loss of its over £1 million annual funding from local authorities. This fiscal pressure has pushed out smaller productions and shrunk the space for new, original shows.
The executive director of the National Theatre, Kate Varah, expressed concern about the current state of the industry, noting that “many in the industry are at breaking point.” This sentiment encapsulates a powerful and increasing sentiment among theatre professionals about the existential crises they are currently navigating.
Freelance theatre workers have been raising their pain as well. Paul Carey Jones remarked that the situation “would come as no surprise to most theatre freelancers in the UK,” who deal with low pay and job insecurity. He elaborated that when times are tough, audiences indicate that they want the return of the sure bet vs the risky new thing in entertainment.
“When money is tight, people want a good night out and they don’t want to take a risk,” – Paul Carey Jones
The effects of these economic forces can be felt in programming decisions at venues of all kinds. In response, for example, Leeds Playhouse has scaled back its output of homegrown shows from 12 annually to eight. Larger, commercially viable corporate shows make it hard for smaller productions to compete. This rivalry ultimately restricts the range of connective ideas and approaches possible for audiences to engage with.
On a happier note, theatres that shifted the quickest to go virtual appear to have made it through these crises. Leicester Curve has doubled its box office receipts in the last ten years. This success can be attributed to their incredible commitment to musical productions in partnership with for-profit producers. This smart strategy helps them create productions that can go on tour outside their local area, thus broadening their potential audience.
Even theatres that have been successful for years can still be subject to larger trends hitting the industry. Stephanie Sirr noted that “it does fluctuate from year to year,” indicating that while some venues may thrive under current circumstances, others struggle.
“I do think it’s more difficult to produce these days,” – Stephanie Sirr
Sirr further noted that increasing costs have a huge impact on the ability to produce at all. Those costs have increased exponentially,” she continued, highlighting a very specific need to address drastically inflated energy costs associated with constructing sets and operating on-set lighting. When operational expenses are rising, it makes sustaining varied programming more difficult for theatres.
To now include the conversation on provides opportunities in regional theatres which is equally important. Sirr went on to explain how many of the actors who are as famous as world stars today all started off in regional work. The dwindling supply of original productions jeopardizes this crucial pipeline for talent to break through.
“A lot of Netflix stars… cut their teeth in regional theatres,” – Stephanie Sirr
The impact of this trend goes beyond just each theatre’s bottom line. It ripples across the entire industry. As the number of jobs available to artists and theatre professionals continues to dwindle, a skills retention crisis is on the horizon.
Carey Jones articulated this concern further, describing the industry as facing “chronic low pay, job insecurity, [and] poor work/life balance.” Such conditions create a culture where the best and brightest talent will look for work anywhere but in our theatres, exacerbating the industry’s problems.
Given all this challenge, many theatre companies are looking to creative and even more collaborative ways to diversify risk and share resource burden. Chris Stafford echoed that theatres can increase their production by working together. By joining together, they’re able to show a greater body of work than they could individually.
“By sharing resources and risk, we’re able to… do more work and create and present more work,” – Chris Stafford
As UK theatre grapples with persistent funding issues and rising operational costs, it remains crucial for stakeholders to find innovative solutions to support original productions. The current state of theatre raises critical questions about the future of cultural expression in the UK and its ability to nurture new talent.
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