Despite Recession, UK Theatre Breaks Records in 2009

The Society of London Theatre, an entity which represents 52 theatrical venus in the capital, is expected to report that despite the ever-present recession, 2009 proved to be a golden year for theatre, breaking records and selling more than 14 million tickets, reports a story on the BBC.

Much of this success is directly related to people's needs for escapist entertainment, though the usual entertainment drawing in the audiences is slightly changing. "The predicted appetite for entirely escapist fare, the kind of fare that we're told sustained audiences through the Great Depression of the Thirties, has been slightly misplaced", explains Nicholas Hytnersays, the director of the National Theatre. "It turns out there's a huge audience for straight plays, for serious theatre, that addresses head on the world that people feel they're part of, that engages with a world that at the moment appears to be spinning out of control."

Nonetheless, while London theatre audiences are flocking to shows to perhaps momentarily set aside their worries of their daily lives, not all news is good for the theatre scene in the UK. Outside of London, many theatres are struggling to find an audience, and to stay afloat in these uncertain financial times which drive down private and corporate donations.

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