Sound the warning klaxon: the knotty issue of exorbitant theatre ticket prices is back in the headlines. In my review of the new West End production of Much Ado about Nothing, starring the sizzling pairing of Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell, I remarked with consternation that the seat I had been given in the stalls went for £275. Looking at the website for the Theatre Royal Drury Lane now, I see that the price increases to £350 for the show on, for example, Friday 7 March. You could have a weekend in Paris for that sort of money.
Cue much handwringing and lamentation: How can this sort of rampant price inflation be good for the sector? How will the next generation of theatregoers ever be introduced to the artform? More pertinently, how on earth can current fans afford to sustain such a viciously expensive hobby?
These are all highly valid questions, but before we sink down into a spiral of despair it is worth emphasising that these are premium prices for near-date bookings. Many fans will have bought their tickets weeks or even months ago, before the show opened to glowing notices, which of course initiated a fierce dance of supply and demand (and theatres grow ever fonder of so-called surge pricing). And before the play’s marketing team contacts my editor to complain about unfair representation, it should also be noted that this production, like many in the West End, has a wide range of discounts available, most notably for younger spectators.
Caveats aside though, why have West End prices reached such exorbitant heights? Star quality is, of course, a major factor, just as it was for Sarah Jessica Parker’s London stage debut in Plaza Suite last year. The opportunity to watch big-name actors in the flesh makes it “event theatre”, with a premium price tag attached. Much Ado the play is not the calling card, Hiddleston and Atwell are. Shows that are not star-driven – The Play that Goes Wrong is a good West End example – will not charge in the same way.
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Hollywood stars are obsessed with the West End - and they're ruining it
Read MoreThe lengthy and recurring contractual demands of film and, especially, long-running series on streaming services, means that star names only sign up for (very) limited theatre runs, often as few as 11 weeks. This means that producers don’t have very many performances over which they can recoup their money, especially given that some well-known actors – David Tennant in the recent West End run of Macbeth is one example – refuse to do a midweek matinée, thus further reducing the number of sellable shows. With all these constrictions in place, it is no wonder that producers push prices as high as they think they can go.
What worries me most about this issue is not the actual prices, alarming though they can appear. As I said, these are the premium rates and any half-canny booker will be able to find lower (it is worth remembering that all subsidised theatres run a range of cost-effective membership schemes). No, my concern is that those with half an inclination to give theatre a go will look askance at these headline numbers and instantly decide that the art form isn’t for them (and perhaps, even more grievously, their children). Or, just as detrimentally, pay a high price on one occasion, not enjoy the show and thus write theatre off completely, in a way that no-one would condemn football after one poor match.
As with so many aspects of life, it sometimes pays simply to hold one’s nerve when it comes to theatre-going. I write this article in mid-afternoon and a handful of top stalls seats are available for Much Ado this evening. The price? £89.50. It may not be cheap, but it’s a return to the realm of normality.
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