...but few are booking tickets, and most not before November

Three-quarters of theatre audiences are itching for the return of a live event.

But only 17 per cent of them are booking for future events – and half of them are not looking to go to a show until November at the earliest.

They are the headline findings of a major new survey outlining how live entertainment might emerge from lockdown that will have repercussions for the comedy industry.

 Cultural consultancy Indigo linked up with 192 arts organisations across the UK to undertake the survey, which took three weeks and involved 86,000 responses from theatre-lovers.

Asked how much they were missing live shows, 60 per cent said ‘a lot’ and another 33 per cent said ‘somewhat’ – totalling 93 per cent.

But while venues are itching to reopen, that might not be enough to bring audiences back. Just 19 per cent said they would attend an event simply because venues were open.

Three-quarters would feel safer if there was some sort of social distancing – even though that might make venues financially unviable and rob events of that buzz that audiences are missing.

Scores of theatres around the country urged their audience to take part in the After The Interval survey, from big organisations such as the National Theatre and Royal Albert Hall to smaller venues such as London’s Museum Of Comedy.

The findings echo the more comedy-focussed survey that Chortle exclusively reported earlier in the week, in which most people suggested most audience would not be ready to venture to shows again until early December.

And it comes as the Showtime cinema chain announced plans to reopen on July 4 with new social distancing rules including staggered film start times, reduced schedules, online bookings, contactless payments throughout, Perspex shields at all till points, and wipes and hand sanitiser stations.

The full Indigo report is available here.

Published: 15 May 2020