News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK
The British Theatre Guide Newsletter
No 1163: 9 June 2024
Editorial
Over the years, we’ve covered a lot of reports on the transformative effects of theatre, social and economic, that go beyond the walls of the venue, and I’ve certainly written on the subject a few times in this newsletter.
This week, I’ve been looking at a new report from my local area about The Lowry in Salford. When it opened beside the Manchester Ship Canal in 2000—which closed in 1982—there was little else on this derelict land. Two years later, Imperial War Museum North opened, then Media City, to where both the BBC and ITV moved their main regional centres in the 2010s, was built—unfortunately on the cheaper of the only two car parks serving the area. The report credits The Lowry with kicking off this remarkable transformation.
The report reads as a promotional document, but the figures it quotes tell a very interesting story. Almost 860,000 people visited the venue in 2022–23, spending around £86.6 million during their stay, and 22,000 people participated in its learning and engagement programmes. On its contribution to the economy, the report calculates a return on investment of £32.91 for each £1 of public funding in 2022–23, which has risen from £16.27 in 2013 (also not a bad return).
The Quays is a very different place to 25 years ago. Plus they did us proud for the last ever Manchester Theatre Awards ceremony, which we staged there in 2018.
Another success story is reported by Philip Fisher in his feature: the producers of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have announced the show has become the fifth longest-running play (ignoring musicals) in Broadway history. Philip lists the four that beat it, but few people will have heard of them, in contrast to the longest running plays on the West End, which will be familiar to most UK theatregoers.
Of course, the West End list is topped by The Mousetrap, with the number two—The Woman in Black—a long way behind. Of the top six mentioned by Philip, only No Sex Please, We’re British started on the West End; the others, far from being multi-million pound blockbusters, all began life at regional theatres, or even on the fringe.
Finally, I have some sad news that has only just come to me of our reviewer, Dr Claire Seymour, who died in February at the age of just 53. While I never got to meet her, her reviews were always brilliantly detailed and insightful.
Claire has written for us since 2016, but she was already a respected reviewer for other publications, joining Opera Today in 2008 and later becoming their lead UK reviewer, as well as writing for Seen and Heard International, MusicWeb International, The Stage and Opera Magazine. She was also a published author of books on opera and editor of the journal of the Thomas Hardy Society and had held academic positions at the University of Tokyo (Todai), Dover College (Kent), Queen’s College London and, most recently, Open University.
Our thoughts are with her partner, David, and her family and friends, but we were privileged to have her contribute to BTG for almost eight years.
Twelfth Night in Regent's Park, London Director Owen Horsley on his production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Or What You Will at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
A report from Lichfields concludes the Salford arts centre generates £90m for the local economy and delivers £22.4m of value through its outreach programmes.
Longborough Festival Opera has announced its plans for next year, including the UK première of Wahnfried: The Birth of the Wagner Cult by Avner Dorman.
Longborough Festival Opera has announced its plans for next year, including the UK première of Wahnfried: The Birth of the Wagner Cult by Avner Dorman.
Jesus Christ Superstar (David Ian for Crossroads Live and Work Light Productions presents the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production) - Sunderland Empire, Sunderland, –
Murder in the Dark (Original Theatre and Trafalgar Entertainment) - online / no venue, From
GOOD (Fictionhouse and Playful Productions) - online / no venue, –
Constellations (Donmar Warehouse, Wessex Grove and Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Eilene Davidson, Gavin Kalin Productions, Grand Cru Consulting Ltd, Rupert Gavin/Mallory Factor, in association with Nica Burns for Nimax) - online / no venue, From
Jekyll & Hyde (Reading Rep Theatre) - online / no venue, From
They (Factory International for Manchester International Festival) - online / no venue, From
