Q: Do you collect anything? A: Yes, Theatre.

This is a VERY relatable post, it's only in the last couple of years that I've managed to successfully convince myself that I don't *have* to collect shows like that. There was a time when I would have indiscriminately booked every single show at places like the National, the Royal Court, the Globe, the Hampstead, the Almeida, the Donmar etc.

What I've actually found quite helpful is experience; not only am I better equipped to have a very solid idea of which playwrights or directors I actively dislike and thus wish to avoid (I have managed to not see a single Pinter play this year, I'm very happy with this negative collection!), I also know which theatre spaces are more trouble than they're worth to book just for the hell of it. For instance the Dorfman is expensive with poor sightlines, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is uncomfortable with poor sightlines, the Royal Court Upstairs has terrible queue-jumping. I haven't ruled out these spaces all together, I'll still go to see things if they sound appealing or the word of mouth is good, but knowing how much I don't really like them if the show itself doesn't sound like it'll be worth the effort has made it SO much easier for me to just not book everything. And having the emotional permission to skip the Dorfman means I don't feel as compelled to see everything in the Lyttelton or Olivier either, it's very freeing.

I do still have a way to go though. And also maybe I'd be less relaxed about letting shows go if I hadn't already previously amassed such a collection. (For instance, I've seen every single Shakespeare play at least once, and more than a dozen King Lears means I'm definitely ready to let go of that one unless the casting is very special indeed, but still that's more King Lears than I ever really *wanted* to see.) Still, there's always something to aim for. I do imagine that one day I'll be the person who goes to the theatre once a month as a special treat, rather than at least twice on Saturdays just because that's what I *do*, one day, in the distant future...

I like the idea of collecting, for example , a playwright more than the actual execution. I would love to say I've seen all of Ibsen or Williams but often find an excuse not to go to a certain production.

Where I do go slightly doo-lally is with cast recordings and singers, but I do that with all forms of music and spend hours trying to 'complete' people. Nothing is more enraging than suddenly finding a song, album, performance you previously didn't know when you thought you'd 'ticked the box'

Am also a bit like it with authors, tending to try and read all they've written

I'm missing the Lyric and St Martins

There's no such thing as 'normal'. We're all weird! Neurotypical people just hide it better - well, sometimes, anyway.

Collecting/completionist tendencies are incredibly common.

You are far from the only 4 year old who wanted all the Sylvanian families - those type of toys wouldn't have existed if that wasn't the case. 

I semi-joke about 'collecting' all the Doctor Who actors in stage roles - still need to catch Matt Smith in something!
I expect I'll tick all the Shakespeare plays off the list at some point, though I'm not in a hurry and am willing to wait for well-reviewed
productions.

I’m another one who is trying to visit all the WE theatres. On the still yet to visit -
Queens
Lyric
Piccadilly
Her Majesty’s

Arts
Lyric Hammersmith
Jermyn Street
Soho theatre

Hmm. I got back into theatre three/four years ago so for a while felt the need to check out various writers, actors, directors, theatres I'd heard a lot about, a new-ish generation of actors I love on TV but hadn't yet had the chance to see on stage (the favourites I loved when younger disappeared off into film and TV) . Now I've ticked almost all of them off like a trainspotter and I've whittled it down to a small core group of unmissables, and I try to get to see all their work. I don't live in London so money and time are big factors - from now on its quality rather than quantity.

Saw John Hurt in Heroes and Sylvester McCoy in Three Sisters and once was at the same performance as Peter Capaldi PLUS I once saw Tom Baker being accosted in Trafalgar Square by 2 men who were clearly telling him how much they loved him.

It was Pertwee, Colin Baker and David Banks who played the Doctor in the early 90s tour.

Trevor Martin was the Doctor in a West End show back in the mid 70s.

Colin! Ah.

I guess if I did collect anything theatre wise it would be Sondheim.
I try to see every major production in London and a few regional and amateur ones too.
I think the only one on my to do list is The Frogs.

Hello to my fellow aspies, Dawnstar and martello736 ! Nice to make an acquaintance! 

I am guilty of this, too, with a certain actor that will remain nameless (his first name begins with C and his last name is like Jedward but swap the letter J with an S and put it at the end). No matter how bad the production, I will strive to see every show he stars in (up to a point*), because even if the show is unbearable, at least I can gaze longingly at his face for 2 hours and get some enjoyment from that.

(*Even I have my limits. He went to Australia for the entirety of 2017 and ofc I could not afford a return ticket all the way to Australia and back, and that's minus hotel/theatre ticket costs, so that will be a show I will forever regret not being able to witness. My only consolation was a load of bootleg audio recordings of the show popped up online, so I'm quite lucky in that respect.)

And I've been trying to collect theatre programmes (and the occasional stub) of his past shows, as well as every show I go to see presently in the West End and beyond, with or without him starring in it. Idk what fascinates me about looking at old programmes but... Yeah, I do that.

And HECK YES to david's BUILD YOUR OWN THEATRE magazine thingy mabob. The Globe would make an excellent candidate.

I never use that abbrevation because I always mis-read it as aspic!