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Original poster

Would this help theatres survive?

39 replies

waltzingparrot · 04/07/2020 10:04

I don't work in the theatre world, so don't understand their funding - I just attend occasionally and love it.

I have watched some filmed theatre performances online during lockdown and thought it worked well. Obviously, it's not the full on live experience, nor is it the big screen experience via cinemas, which I also enjoy. It is its own thing and I would pay to watch theatre performances at home on the telly or laptop. Would you?

Surely, this potential massive online audience could help them survive. I would however hope they'd keep the tickets really cheap. A fiver, and I might watch every week, so that's £250 that could have out of me annually, which is more than I spent on theatre last year.

OP posts:

Therollockingrogue · 04/07/2020 10:10

Honestly I wouldn’t.
For me I love the feeling of a night at the theatre, the dressing up, the smell of the theatre, the whole experience. In the past I’ve gone to live broadcasts of ballets screened in cinemas , and even that is a poor substitute really.
I can’t think of why I’d rather watch theatre on screen than watch a film. It doesn’t work for me at all. Open air performances or shorts could be an alternative I would embrace more readily.

Witchend · 04/07/2020 10:17

I don't think enough people would pay for them to survive.
There's enough out there on the Internet that people are not going to pay a lot to view.
And even if they do, when we go to the theatre we are 5 people, that can be £200 at times. But you wouldn't pay for 5 people to view the TV so you'd only get £5 from us.

Prokupatuscrakedatus · 04/07/2020 10:19

The little local community theatre my DN and her friends renovated, re-established, worked and performed at since 2008 will not survive without spectators on site. The cannot compete with streams from the world famous places.

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BearSoFair · 04/07/2020 10:20

I personally wouldn't. I started watching the free NT live stream of A Midsummer's Night Dream last week, and it was just a bit flat, I didn't enjoy it. I saw the actual show on stage 3 times because it was absolutely fantastic, but it didn't quite work carried onto screen. So I probably wouldn't pay to watch a theatre stream/video unless it was something I was absolutely desperate to see.

ethelredonagoodday · 04/07/2020 10:21

I think if it was either that, or theatre going down the toilet I would! I agree with PPs that you cannot recreate the excitement of live theatre performances on screen, but for a much cheaper ticket price, you could help theatres to keep going and enjoy some of that magic.

Mumdiva99 · 04/07/2020 10:24

I have paid to watch theatre on the TV. Pre-lockdown I paid to watch it at the cinema. One of the reasons this doesn't fox the problem is that that £10 I paid might help the organisation.....butnit doesn't help my friend the stage manager who currently has no work,nor the theatre administrator with no show to manage, or the musician who isn't needed in the orchestra. They aee currently working in Tesco or not working and looking for employment. They still need to pay bills.

heartsonacake · 04/07/2020 10:24

No, I wouldn’t. It’s not the same and I wouldn’t want to pay to watch something I’d enjoy in a sub par performance.

katy1213 · 04/07/2020 10:24

Some of the NT live streams have been terrific. (This House and Small Island, especially.) Also Woolf Works from the ROH. But several theatres are offering paid-for performances. You can book a package for Nigel Slater's Toast that includes a couple of Walnut Whips!

ButDoUAvocado · 04/07/2020 10:28

DD was desperate to go and see SIX, I bought her tickets for her birthday and had seen a little bit online but wasn’t paying too much attention.

Oh my god, I was blown away by the live performance, the singing was incredible and it just doesn’t come across the same way on screen.
I can’t wait to go and see it again when the theatres reopen.

okiedokieme · 04/07/2020 10:31

Theatre tickets cost £50 on average (some more some less, bit less in some regions) that's a lot of people needing to pay £5 to watch at home, it would cost almost as much to film a single performance as a 2 week run! Theatres also get income from the bar, restaurants etc. I don't understand why we can go to the shops and buy crap we don't need but can't sit in rows with masks on!

Mumdiva99 · 04/07/2020 10:32

@butDoUAvocado they are doing a drive in tour this summer. We go in August.

ButDoUAvocado · 04/07/2020 10:40

@Mumdiva99 I saw that advertised! Am dithering whether to go or wait for the theatres.
It’s such an amazing show.

heartsonacake · 04/07/2020 10:46

I don't understand why we can go to the shops and buy crap we don't need but can't sit in rows with masks on!

okiedokieme It’s to do with the performers safety; they need to sing, dance, project, be in close contact with each other, and doing that safely right now is unfortunately not possible.

Not only that but with social distancing seating the theatres would be running at 25% capacity and would not survive.

EnlightenedOwl · 04/07/2020 10:49

Because of that idiot whitty who thinks we can put our entire lives on hold and whom unfortunately the government listens to

Magedy · 04/07/2020 12:46

Theatre Manager here. I'm worried about this obviously. We barely break even (and if I'm honest we really don't once you take into account all the good will hours our staff add). And that's in a really good year with sell outs and some big names. We simply cannot afford to reduce our capacity by anything. If we did we would have to probably double the price of the tickets which aren't cheap already and people consistently moan about the price (we are a provincial theatre not a London theatre). Competing with the likes of Netflix is extremely hard and these days unless you have a household name then people are reluctant to come to shows even when the theatre or show is absolutely brilliant.
Older people are our audience, I worry that this main source of social activity for them will just disappear.

Original poster

waltzingparrot · 04/07/2020 15:11

I hadn't intended it to be an either/or option - just a way of supplementing income that might just squeeze them through however long this lasts.

OP posts:

IcedPurple · 04/07/2020 15:22

I don't think I'd be prepared to pay more than about 5 quid to see a streamed performance on my TV, and even then it would have to be something special. I have gone to those National Theatre live streams in the cinema, and with the big screen and the audience, it's a good substitute for the real thing. But sitting at home looking at my telly? Nah.

Not to mention that at this stage many people are sick to death of 'virtual experiences' and will want the real thing or nada.

DioneTheDiabolist · 04/07/2020 15:46

I agree OP. I know that watching on the TV is nowhere close to enjoying it in the theatre, but I think something will have to be done if they are to survive Covid at all. I'm not a big fan of large productions on the small screen, but I have enjoyed plays with smaller casts and less going on onstage.

I read recently that Denmark has been using theatres as classrooms which I thought was a brilliant idea. Unfortunately the Dept of Ed here has said that there will be no extra funding for schools to deal with CV, so they wouldn't be able to pay.

Nonnymum · 04/07/2020 15:50

It's a nice idea but it is very expensive to put on a production which is why theatre tickets are expensive . If you add in cost of filming it professionally I don't think they will break even.

gotothecooler · 04/07/2020 15:52

I would. However the problem with theatres reopening isn't so much about the audience as it is the cast and crew and everyone else involved.

So yes, we can stay home and safely watch anything, but to put on a live show the people involved can't also safe.

Cuddling57 · 04/07/2020 15:53

Theatre in the park?

Nonnymum · 04/07/2020 15:54

Because of that idiot whitty who thinks we can put our entire lives on hold and whom unfortunately the government listens to

Of course it is not Professor Whittys fault and he is certainly not an idiot. It is the fault of the Virus!

gotothecooler · 04/07/2020 16:36

@Cuddling57

The problem is not with the audience. It doesn't matter where it's staged.

IcedPurple · 04/07/2020 16:42

@gotothecooler

I would. However the problem with theatres reopening isn't so much about the audience as it is the cast and crew and everyone else involved.

So yes, we can stay home and safely watch anything, but to put on a live show the people involved can't also safe.

I don't see how the cast and crew would be any less 'safe' than people working in pubs, shops or restaurants, all of which are now permitted to open.

gotothecooler · 04/07/2020 16:45

I don't see how the cast and crew would be any less 'safe' than people working in pubs, shops or restaurants, all of which are now permitted to open.

That is your own problem if you can't see a difference. Have you ever seen a west end show? Surely you must be aware of the intimacy involved and how it is absolutely nothing like working alone side someone behind a bar

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