come back to me… A survey of audience attitudes to returning to OffWestEnd theatre Report by OffWestEnd June 2020 www.offwestend.info [email protected] 1 OffWestEnd supports, promotes and celebrates the work of over 100 independent, alternative and fringe theatres in London. The impact of Covid-19 has devastated theatre generally and OffWestEnd venues, which operate on very limited resources, have a range of challenges to address before they can re-open. ABOUT THIS SURVEY This survey explores the attitudes of theatre-goers, both generally and with specific reference to OffWestEnd theatre, and in particular their feelings about when they might return, how their habits might change post lockdown, and what will help them make a decision to return. The primary target for this survey was our mailing list of around 8,500 OffWestEnd subscribers. We invited OffWestEnd venues to circulate the survey as well but, given that many of them are working on a skeleton staff, we did not expect many to be able to do this. In addition, we promoted the survey via social media. There were 3 parts to the survey: • actual theatre going pre lockdown, generally and regarding OffWestEnd • likely theatre going post lockdown, generally and regarding OffWestEnd • the demographics of the respondents We had 759 responses, which is about 9% of our subscriber list, and a reasonable number in order to provide valid and useful results. OffWestEnd / June 2020 / www.offwestend.com / [email protected] SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS There are a lot of keen theatre-goers: 89% of respondents attend some form of theatre once a month, nearly 40% attend once a week and 97% are missing it! 42% of respondents spent £20-50 on theatre tickets per month, including for OffWestEnd theatre. OffWestEnd theatre is popular: pre-lockdown, 18% attended an OffWestEnd venue 4 out of every 5 theatre visits, 21% attended on 3 out of every 5 visits, and 30% attended on 2 out of every 5 visits. Post lockdown, respondents had various views as to what they were most looking forward to with regard to OffWestEnd theatre: for 54%, it was “the chance to see something that I am unlikely to see in a larger venue” and for 51% it was “the shared experience in an intimate ‘off west end’ setting”. Regarding attending any theatre when it re-opens, 39% were “very likely” to attend in Sept 2020 – this rose to 55% if it was Dec 2020 – ticket sales in the autumn would therefore seem problematic for all. 79% of respondents said they were also very likely to return to OffWestEnd venues post lockdown, or that choice of theatre was not a relevant issue. 64% of respondents stated that “extra protective measures at the theatre – on-site temperature taking, hand sanitisers, awareness of extra cleaning procedures, etc” would help persuade them to return. While 56% felt that having seats 2m apart was a“positive” factor, 34% felt it was “negative”. 82% stated that a vaccine will make it very likely they will return to theatre. Pre lockdown the most popular form of transport to get to theatre was “train or tube” (83%) but this falls to 61% post lockdown – going by car or bike, or walking, were all more popular post lockdown. Though most (62%) say that Covid-19 will not affect where they visit theatre, 30% did say that they will try and go to more local theatre – a possible bonus for OffWestEnd theatres which are spread across London. The demographics of respondents are outlined on pages 15-17. 2 PRE-LOCKDOWN On average, how often did you go to theatre in general prior to the lockdown? once a year less than once a year More than once a week 177 2 or 3 times 0% 0% Once a week 115 per year more than Once a fortnight 167 11% once a week Once a month 212 24% 2 or 3 times per year 82 Once a year 1 Less than once a year 2 once a 24% attended more than once a week month once a 39% attended at least once a week 28% week 15% 61% attended at least once a fortnight 89% attended at least once a month. once a fortnight 22% Are you missing the opportunity to attend theatre in general? Not really Not at all Yes – a lot 634 3% 0% Some 97 Some Not really 20 13% Not at all 2 84% are missing going to theatre a lot. 97% are missing it “some” or “a lot”. Yes – a lot 84% Who did you usually go to the theatre with, if anyone? I go by yourself 223 I go with your spouse or partner or 279 someone else in the same household with one by I go with one or more friends (who do not 251 or more yourself live in your household) friends 30% 33% About equally split between the 3 options. with spouse or partner 37% 3 Which means of transport did you most often use to get to the theatre? Walk Bike 9% Train or Tube 633 2% Bus 188 Car Car 109 10% Bike 18 Walk 98 Train / tube is clearly the most popular option. Train or Bus Tube This question was repeated in the post lockdown 18% section below – and the responses did change. 61% How much did you spend on tickets per month, for any theatre? Less than £20 79 Over £100 Less than £20 19% 10% £20-£50 319 £50-100 217 Over £100 140 The largest group (42%) spent £20-£50 per month, but 29% spent £50-£100, and a not insignificant number (19%) spent over £100. £50-100 £20-£50 29% 42% Of your theatre visits, how many were to OffWestEnd theatres? 100% No response 20% 192 4% 2% 40% 224 20% 60% 156 80% 25% 80% 139 18% 100% 32 No response 16 The responses were fairly evenly split between the 20% / 40% / 60% / 80% options. 60% 21% 40% 69% visited OffWestEnd theatres at least 40% of 30% the time. 4 Please list a few of your favourite OffWestEnd theatres. 704 responded to this question: “OFFWESTEND” THEATRES Millfield Ye Olde Rose & Crown x7 Shaftesbury Above Stag x35 Mirth, Marvel & Maud Southbank Centre x3 Albany x3 Mountview OTHERS NOT IN WEST END Theatre Royal Haymarket Arcola x 109 Network Theatre x3 (but members of SOLT) Arts Depot New Diorama x22 Almeida x 65 OUTSIDE LONDON Barons Court x9 Old Red Lion x45 Arts Theatre x5 Alexandra Th Birmingham Battersea Arts Centre x 32 Omnibus x5 Barbican x 4 Barn, Cirencester Bernie Grant Arts Centre Orange Tree Th x58 Bridge Theatre x6 Birmingham Hippodrome Bloomsbury OSO Arts Centre, Barnes x4 Donmar Warehouse x29 Birmingham Rep Blue Elephant Other Palace x24 Globe Theatre x5 Chichester Boulevard Theatre x10 Ovalhouse x3 Hackney Empire x16 Churchill Bromley x4 Bread & Roses x8 Park x126 Hampstead Theatre x64 Edinburgh Playhouse Bridewell x13 Pentameters x5 Menier Choc Factory x76 Grand Opera House Belfast Bridge House Theatre Playground Theatre x3 National Theatre x19 Grand Th Wolverhampton Bridge x12* Pleasance x20 Richmond Theatre x8 Kenneth More, Ilford Broadway Barking Polka x4 Rose Theatre Kingston x13 Latchingdon Tractor Shed Brookside Theatre Romford Queens Th Hornchurch x21 Royal Court x31 Lyceum Edinburgh Bunker Theatre x14 Questors x2 Young Vic x59 Manchester Palace Bush Theatre x62 Rich Mix x5 Mercury Colchester Calder Bookshop & Th x2 Riverside Studios x4 OTHER THEATRES Milton Keynes Camden People’s Th x11 Rose (?) x3 Arches (Vaults?) Octagon in Yeovil Canal Cafe Theatre x2 Rose Playhouse Bankside x2 Beck (Hayes) x2 Oldham Coliseum Cervantes x4 Rosemary Branch x5 Belmont Theatre RBL Reading Charing Cross Th x33 Shoreditch Town Hall x5 Camberley Theatre Royal Hippodrome Eastb’ne Chickenshed x7 Soho Theatre x52 Erith Playhouse x3 Salisbury Playhouse Chiswick Playhouse x4 Southwark Playhouse x179 Exchange in Twickenham Sheffield Crucible x2 Cockpit Theatre x9 Space x9 Hampton Hill Theatre Traverse Edinburgh Coronet (Print Room) x14 St Brides Institute x2 Holland Park Watermill Courtyard Stockwell Playhouse x2 Matchstick Piehouse Crazy Coqs x3 Stratford (?) x2 New Victoria Woking ? VENUE/LOCATION Drayton Arms x19 Stratford Circus x3 Orchard Dartford x2 Abbey (Dublin?) Etcetera x10 Tabard Theatre x11 Place Artist Studio (?) Finborough x84 Tara Arts x5 Pump House, Watford Factory (?) Gate x25 Teatro Technis x2 Putney Arts Theatre x4 Octagon (Bolton?) Greenwich x25 Th Royal Stratford East x20 Troubadour Turnham Green (?) Half Moon x3 Theatre Delicatessen Union Chapel, Islington Union Street (?) Hen & Chickens x9 Theatre503 x26 Wembley Theatre Hope Theatre x33 Tower Theatre x10 Wimbledon Theatre x4 OTHER COMMENTS Hoxton Hall Trafalgar Studios x36 Yvonne Arnaud Th, Guildf’d • & any other play in any Iris Tristan Bates x11 theatre we fancied seeing Irish Cultural Centre Turbine Theatre x7 WEST END THEATRES • and any theatre that Jack Studio Theatre x39 Unicorn Theatre x9 Coliseum captions plays Jackson Lane x7 Union x49 Dominion • arts centres Jermyn St x74 Upstairs at Gatehouse x29 Duke of York • love them all Katzpace x2 Vaults x43 Garrick Theatre • over 50% of those on your Kiln x46 Waterloo Arches Gielgud Theatre list for different reasons King’s Head x81 Waterloo East x15 Lyric Theatre • too many to list Leicester Square Th x19 Watermans Noel Coward • too many to mention Lion & Unicorn x11 Watford Palace x3 Old Vic x15 Little Angel Theatre x2 White Bear x22 Queens x2 Lost Theatre x2 Wiltons Music Hall x29 Royal Opera House Lyric Hammersmith x47 Yard Theatre x8 Sadlers Wells x3 Apart from emails from OffWestEnd about new shows and special offers, do you also subscribe to other mailing lists which provide information on theatre? 704 (93%) responded “YES”. 5 Can you tell us which newsletters you subscribe to? GENERAL NEWSLETTERS Time Out x21 Upstairs at the Gatehouse Chelmsford Theatres ACE Tix Today x3 Chichester Festival x2 Arts Professional Today Tickets Vaults Druid ArtsNews Today Tix x32 Watford Palace x2 Dublin Fringe Festival Artsreach UK Theatre Wiltons x3 East Lane Audience Club x13 UKTW.