More or less theatre? (Poll)

Sometimes id go and see something just because I live across the road from the Palace and it was easy. After over a year without seeing anything I might be more selective.

Was bordering on obsession prior to COVID, was averaging 4 shows a week which was way too much to really appreciate what I did see.

Will be looking at about 2 shows a week going forward with a bit more regional travel and definitely no repeat visits no matter how good.

For me it's the other way round. I will focus more on shows I really appreciate and that give me joy even a third or fourth time instead of trying to see every new big musical in town just for the sake of "having seen it" or because it was a (usually short-lived) hype. 

I hope, eventually, I will see more - because I moved to London last year just as everything locked down.

Was doing around 100 shows a year in 2017-19, hope to be back to that from 2022 if all goes to plan, but highly depends on international travel.

I am nowhere near as prolific a theatre-goer as many on here - unless I happen to have a few shows booked in quick succession I probably average 2 or 3 a month.

I don't see it being hugely different when theatres re-open, but at the start I will likely be making a few more return visits to reopening shows than I probably would have done in normal circumstances, just because of the dearth of theatre opportunities over the last year and a desire to contribute in a small way to getting things up and running again.

It made me realise that I saw too many shows before, sometimes like Neil 4 shows a week, which is too much and looking back some shows are so hazy and don’t really remember seeing, which is bonkers.

I think just for practical reasons there will be less. I'm on the verge of moving to a bigger house a bit further out of London. Like many other people lockdown has created a desire for more space and comfort and knowing I won't have to commute into work every day in future it means a longer journey is less of an issue.

This does mean I'll be spending more on bills but also I won't want to be going to the theatre on days when I'm working from home.

As others have said I'll likely be much more selective in what I book. The days of booking tons of shows months in advance and then getting to the week of the performance and wondering why on earth I booked something will be gone.

For me it will very much depend on prices. If they all go up and no or fewer deals/day seats, etc. are available, I will probably go less, but if deals and day seats continue to be around, I will probably get back to my usual 3-4 shows a week, provided there is stuff I want to see. And I am definitely a repeat visitor person, if I like a show and I can get cheapies, I'll happily see it once a month or more.

Definitely less in the short term. For starters, I'm not booking anything until I've either been vaccinated or at least have a vaccination booked. When I finally feel able to book, not having worked for a year, I don't have much money so won't be able to book loads of tickets.

In the longer term I'm not so sure about amount but I think it likely that the change in the tpe of theatre I see, that I noticed in the couple of years before lockdown, may well continue. There isn't a single big upcoming new West End musical that I am particularly interested in seeing & hasn't been for quite some time. Looking at my theatregoing list, the last big musical I saw was The King And I, in the WE in August 2018 & on tour in February 2020, and that can hardly be described as new. The, fairly small number, of other musicals I've seen during that period have been either fringe productions or concert performances. All the rest of my theatregoing 2018-20 has been opera, ballet, improv & plays (mostly Mischief & now Bank Robbery has closed I'll be seing less Mischief as Magic is not my thing). I can only assume I'm getting too old for modern musicals, as many of them seem to be about issues that I do not wish to watch musicals about. Prices do not help either: a decade ago I might have taken a punt on something with cheap ticket; today I don't want to pay up to £100 for a seat near enough for short-sighted me to see the acting.

Sorry, long rambling post...

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I’m going to be seeing a lot less, for the time being at least. There’s a bunch of reasons, but mainly:

I used to try and see as many shows as I could, thanks to the same FOMO I’m sure a lot of others on here feel. While I do enjoy the vast majority of shows I go to see, for quite a while now a lot of them have felt pretty average, a point that was driven home in 2019 when I struggled to pick an end of year top 5 list as not much stood out as exceptional. I want to try and be more selective.

Secondly, I’m trying to be more responsible with my personal finances. The money I’ve saved from not going to the theatre has been paying off some long standing debt, so while I am better off on paper, I still haven’t felt the benefit yet. Theatre is quite an expensive hobby, and I don’t want to be back in the situation where something like Sunday in the Park with George goes on sale and I immediately reach for the credit card.

Another long standing issue for me is that I can’t drive, so am at the mercy of the pretty lousy public transport system. Just to get to the two local theatres by bus takes at least an hour. I also go to Liverpool and Manchester on the train quite often which, from setting off to getting back home, takes about 7 hours and 9 hours respectively. That means a lot of hanging about waiting, and due to the seasonal nature of most regional theatres, a lot of that is during the colder, darker months of the year.

I was pretty fed up with the hassle of travelling to see shows before Covid, but with the ongoing uncertainty, unless it’s something I really, really want to see I don’t think I’m going to bother for now.

Watching lots on YouTube and streaming sites has made me crave musicals and opera but not ballet and plays.


I've now seen most of the operatic canon and I don't really like pop and rock musicals - so I suspect I'll be seeing less. I kinda hope so as I've loved looking at my saving grow.

Great Question. Very interesting to read people’s comments.
Much less for me. Whilst social distancing and masks remain I won’t bother at all.
Still think we’re roughly a year away to the return of theatre as we knew it before so I’ll pass. Even on the shows I’ve been longing to see like Hairspray/BTTF and The Drifters Girl...