Jermyn Street Theatre and Orange Tree Theatre

The Orange Tree has thrived but they are laser focused on the local audience, they have had the likes of James Fleet and Freddie Fox starring there but one has to wonder if it because it's local to them so not a huge commute.

For me both theatres seem to be doing well at present, both with programming and production quality, which is good since I did wonder how JST would fare after Tom Littler moved on, though anyone other than Paul Miller taking over at the OT would have been a relief to me, as I found his tenure dreadful: I went from wanting to see almost everything in a season in Sam Walters' time to hardly anything - and even some of those productions I did see were so dire that I either walked out at the earliest opportunity or stuck it out and still regret it.

Whilst I agree with alicechallice that Paul Miller did a lot to raise the profile of the OT - which needed it after suddenly losing its Arts Council funding - imo this was done at the expense of the long-term regulars. I accept the need to attract new audience members but not at the expense of the old. Now, under Tom Littler, the current OT season seems almost like a return to what, for me are the good old days of Sam Walters, not only with the programming and reputation of the actors appearing but also the very welcome return of the Thursday matinee post-show discussions, which had almost disappeared during Paul Miller's time.

Also, the OT remains affordable with £15 tickets if you book early enough, whereas JST is very expensive unless you take a chance on one of a couple of early previews, evening only, which doesn't work for me - and I have tried it and learned my lesson. During the main run the tickets cost well over double that - and JST add a booking fee, which the OT doesn't, so whilst I will take a chance at the OT for a £15 matinee, I have to be very sure before I fork out for one at JST now.