The National Theatre, future plans

I have a list of theatres I enjoy attending and I do intend to see everything at those theatres unless something specific about a production turns me off (maybe it sounds naff or it's a dodgy playwright or the tickets are overpriced or I'm on holiday), and that does include the National Theatre. I'll concede it's definitely more than a bit strange though, most people just don't go to the theatre that much. They have time to do fun things, like spontaneous trips away or luxurious dinners or watching Strictly or hanging with friends, or whatever the hell it is that people do on a Saturday that isn't "go to the theatre at least twice to see shows that have been booked months in advance". I could probably do with a less... *focused* cultural diet...

I do think though, now you raise it that a lot of this thread neglects the 'normal' theatre goer, which by virtue or curse of being poor/far from London I'm probably closer to than a lot of people on here: the people who go to the theatre a LOT but no, don't go 2-4 times a week or more, simply because the logistics of their lives don't allow for it. I think the NT (and others) are serving those kinds of dedicated audiences alongside the more casual theatre-goers for that matter. As an aside of a thought.

hahaha perhaps THAT'S what it is?! Perhaps that's where you're going right...or wrong? (as an aside interestingly I seem to have made an unconscious decision not to go into the Dorfman since it's been the Dorfman)

I think it's logical we all have certain theatres on our list of 'will probably be booking a lot there' each time a season comes out but logistics dictate what 'a lot' means for anyone. Equally there's scope for a perfectly irrational aversion to a theatre based on previous experience- be that an uncomfortable seat or an irrational aversion to the current AD

Hey kids, the National Theatre has published it's annual report. Lets see how the failing organisation is getting on under its terrible artistic director

review.nationaltheatre.org.uk/#2017/overview/2

"The theatre was 93% full - a 12 year high"

"The theatre goes into 2017/18 in good health and with increased reserves that are getting closer to our target of three months' running costs"

against a background of a "real terms cut to our Arts Council grant of 24%"

etc

Guess he's doing OK then.

Thank you for drawing attention to this. I see there is £7.7 million in the expenditures for "depreciation". Not being well versed in these things, I don't know what it is that has depreciated - not premises, I see, as these are a separate entry in the expenditures. Is this a fall in the value of things such as costumes and machinery?

 

Monarch planes were full weren’t they? Ryanair planes are always full, no? Just pointing out that usage isn’t everything.

More figures

"In 2016-17 we generated £104.7M 83% of which we generated ourselves through ticket sales, fundraising and commercial activity"

Which is down from Hytner's last year (£117M) but that seemed an unusually successful year (previous year was £99M)

So, in a manner of 'outing' myself until fairly recently I used to asses reports on finances to the Arts Council for a living (hey it's a dirty job and all...) So while this is obviously an edited highlight version of that, and slightly different given it's England and I worked for Wales...all told that's a report that would get a strong 'Tick' and a 'nothing to worry about carry on' type response (given we/they respond and personally work with Portfolio clients or whatever they call them at ACE)

Also an 83% self-generated income is none to bloody shabby. There are organisations getting far more public money for far more a percentage of their income. Also if I was looking at this the fact a big chunk of their money actually goes on production is another sign they're using resources well (again many a company don't)

Depreciation is related to assets, so most likely the buildings or anything else they outright own, which naturally devaules over time but isn't taken into account in terms of the net income etc. So my main guess there is the physical spaces and any particularly valuable kit they have?

Even though the 93% isn't a true picture (comps, press tickets etc) the 75% is a decent outing for a venue like this, and as above, they'd have comfortably broken even I'd guess (not knowing their personal figures but at an educated guess). So again none to shabby on ticket sales.

My memory of what is in that season isn't great but I'd wager that Angels and Follies will mostly balance out the flops, if there's nothing too disastrous in the future. Also War Horse and Curious on tour will probably more than balance out some less great sales for some of Jane Eyre's stops.

Wow I HATED that job but I did quite enjoy that nerdy moment of looking at the figures there...

@abby haha I wouldn't go quite that far!

But yes my job was to check budgets pre-award and finance reports post-award. The way things work in Wales I didn't (full disclosure) ever work directly on the 'Portfolio' clients, so the equivalent of NT etc. BUT the nature of my role meant a fair bit of crossover/knowledge from those who did. And well, I literally sat next to them so you pick a few things up.

Endlessly fascinating actually are the ways in which companies break down their finances, and relatively who is doing well for their % of public money. (Or Lottery money, which was where I mostly worked). As are the rules about what you can and can't pay for. No booze (kinda a given) but also no Fireworks. So it's a good job the NT's tradition of setting off a rocket on opening night ended back in the 80s.

I was at the performance of Romans in Britain when a fracas broke out at the front right of the stalls. Demonstrators had barged their way in and lobbed fireworks onto the stage which had ‘straw’ all over it. The actors stopped, started stamping on the flames to put them out, and the demonstartors-who had shouted something about the IRA- were bundled out. The performance quickly resumed...

Interesting. You should start a thread for “Unauthorised people on stage” - I’ve got an odd one.

In that RSC Complete Works Festival when they did Henry VIII in that church in Stratford they used real fireworks outside as part of the staging. One of the few productions I tried to get tickets for and failed. Billington rates it as the best production of that play he’s seen.