News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK
The British Theatre Guide Newsletter
No 1208: 20 April 2025
Editorial
Happy Easter Day. And it’s certainly a sunny one here in Manchester.
Watching the BBC News Channel the other day, I caught most of an item on some research conducted by our national broadcaster that seemed to show a significant reduction in the number of productions on stage last year compared to a decade ago.
Their reporter was stood in the auditorium of Leicester’s Curve during a rehearsal delivering a fairly superficial report, then the studio anchor had the job of interviewing Nottingham Playhouse Chief Executive Stephanie Sirr, presumably to confirm their dire findings, but she was having none of it, saying they had not seen any of the problems described in the report at their theatre.
Ian Youngs has compiled a rather more rounded article for the BBC web site, which describes the terms of the research, which “covered the 40 venues, festivals and touring companies that produce original theatre, were operating in 2014 and 2024, and had the highest annual grants in 2024/25 from the Arts Councils of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland and the Scottish government.”
It doesn’t list these theatres, but confining the research to funded theatres means that it won’t include the many fringe companies around the country that produce a lot of theatre every year, including some brand new plays and musicals, or any commercial tours. The productions must have opened in the two studied years—2014 and 2024—so long-running West End shows would be excluded. It only includes in-person performances, so online streaming, which barely existed in 2014 but is now an important part of the theatre ecosystem and economy, would not count. And of course, any theatre less than ten years old would also be excluded.
The report also treats co-productions, which have become much more common over the last few years, the same as touring shows, only counting them once however many venues they play, but they are not touring shows; they are full runs that occupy the space of a normal production in each theatre’s schedule. It also excludes anything less than an hour in length, which would include some of the growing number of short, interval-less shows and most theatre for young children.
Theatre has clearly suffered from reduced funding and the continuing effect of lockdown, but these headline-grabbing, superficial interpretations of bare statistics that don’t take into account the changing picture of theatre as a whole don’t really help to find solutions.
I was sorry to read last week about the death of Mike Bradwell, who was the founder of Hull Truck Theatre in 1972. I spoke to him only twice: once in 1996 when he was Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre in London, when it was still in a room over a pub in Shepherd’s Bush and one of the UK’s main venues for new theatre writing, and again in 2013, when I interviewed him for the BTG podcast about his return to Hull Truck as director for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Finally, Bookshop.org this bank holiday weekend is offering the chance to win a £250 gift card if you buy any book. Note that if you buy from the link in this paragraph or on our web site, we may get a small payment at no extra cost to you—but if you wish to support the work we do at BTG, buying from our affiliates and advertisers is a good way to do so.
Hayman tours as Miller's Willy Loman Actor David Hayman and director Andy Arnold on the current touring production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
The 15th Gateshead International Festival of Theatre will feature creative workshops, exhibitions, immersive installations, new performance and discussions.
York International Shakespeare Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary with a programme that "champions international voices, inclusive storytelling, and the urgent themes of our time."
Tom Lister, otherwise known as Carl King in the television soap Emmerdale, is to play Fleshcreep in Malvern Theatres’ 2025 panto Jack and the Beanstalk.
Tom Lister, otherwise known as Carl King in the television soap Emmerdale, is to play Fleshcreep in Malvern Theatres’ 2025 panto Jack and the Beanstalk.
Giant (Royal Court Theatre in association with Brian & Dayna Lee, Stephanie Kramer & Nicole Kramer and Robyn Goodman & Josh Fiedler) - Harold Pinter Theatre, London, –
Romeo and Juliet (Belgrade Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Hackney Empire) - Hackney Empire, London, –
Here We Are (Tom Kirdahy, Sue Wagner, John Johnson and The Stephen Sondheim Trust, co-produced with The National Theatre) - National Theatre, London, –
Hamlet Hail To The Thief (Factory International, the Royal Shakespeare Company and ATC Experience, Nate Koch and Vivek J.Tiwary for TEG+) - Aviva Studios (Factory International), Manchester, –
The Ripper Files (Rumpus Theatre Company) - Theatre Royal Wakefield, Wakefield,
Dear Evan Hansen (Nottingham Playhouse in association with Ambassador Theatre Group Productions) - New Theatre, Hull, –
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Elliott & Harper Productions and Catherine Schreiber, based on the original Leeds Playhouse production) - Grand Opera House York, York, –
