Theatre numbers up but fewer new plays, study says

Theatre audiences returned in greater numbers than expected after the pandemic, according to an industry body, the British Theatre Consortium.

The British Theatre: Before and after Covid report analysed UK box office data, including ticket sales, performances and audience numbers from information gathered by the Society of London Theatres, comparing 2019 and 2023.

Co-author Dan Rebellato, said: "The number of shows has definitely gone down, but attendances are up in 2023 compared to 2019, there's a lot of new work but most of it is new musicals."

He added that the big decline was in new plays opening, with the report showing that there were 30% fewer plays opening in 2023 compared to 2019.

Figures revealed there were 9.9% fewer shows and 11.6% fewer performances in 2023, compared to 2019, but a growth of 6.1% in attendances.

Mr Rebellato said it is harder to sell a new play.

He said: "There has been a slight sense of cautiousness, that has moved some away from the new play."

The report found there were great successes in 2023 when theatres re-opened after two consecutive lockdowns – notably in musical theatre.

The data showed there were more adaptations and less drama commissioned.

In 2019, musical theatre accounted for a third of all performances, half of all attendances, and almost 60% of all box office income.

In 2023, those proportions rose to 40% of all performances, over half of all attendances, and nearly 66% of all box office income.

In contrast, drama saw a significant decline as a proportion of productions from 57% to 51%.

It found in terms of new work, there was the increase in new musicals.

In 2019, 37% of musicals were new, rising to just over 50% in 2023.

After lockdown, new musicals accounted for 56% of all box office takings for new work.

Punch by James Graham is a new play that originally opened at the Nottingham Playhouse in 2024, before transferring to the Young Vic in London in April 2025. In September it transferred to the Apollo Theatre.

Kate Pakenham produced the West End production.

"Producers can be concerned about the commercial reality of putting on a new play because there is a sense that audiences are attracted to what they know," she said.

"Our job is to find new ways of producing them. Whether that's in partnership with a not-for-profit theatre (NFP), or to take them on a journey like Punch which went from a regional theatre to a NFP before transferring into the West End."

She believes the sector needs to continue to support each other and to support playwrights who are the lifeblood of the theatre.

"One of the ways we can mitigate the concerns about the risks of producing new plays is the partnerships that we create."

"There's a huge pipeline or ecology in the industry supporting new plays and that's what we have to continue understanding and investing in."

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