1. Survey of theatre-going intentions throws up surprising results
Research finds resurgence of interest in plays among younger people – and change in attitudes
to audience etiquette.
A higher proportion of people went to the theatre last year than attended a music concert or
sporting event, with teenagers saying they are more likely to go than older people, a survey will
say on Thursday.
The research seems to defy any notion that theatre audiences are intrinsically middle-class and
middle-aged. In fact, the most likely age group to say they will attend the theatre is 16- to 19year-olds, with 45- to 54-year-olds the least likely to attend. The statistics are revealed in a
report commissioned by Ticketmaster to look at the broader state of UK theatre.
Sophie Crosby, a vice-president of the company, admitted that she was stunned by some of the
statistics. "I asked my team to check the data five times about the number of people who said
they'd attended a theatre event – it was 63%, and by no means limited to middle-class and
middle-aged people."
She said the research was prompted by changes her company had noticed in ticket sale trends
over five years "towards a younger and less affluent customer base. We thought it would be
interesting to try and understand it more."
The appetite for theatre among young people is striking. In age terms, 87% of 16- to 19-yearolds said they were likely to see something at a theatre, compared with 66% of 45- to 54-yearolds. More generally, 63% of people had been to the theatre in the past year, while the figure
was 53% for music concerts and 47% for a sporting event.
Alistair Smith, deputy editor of the Stage, said the figures about young people and theatre were
fascinating. He added: "There have been an awful lot of initiatives and theatre has tried very
hard over the last few years to target younger audiences, and we're seeing that pay off."
The report has much that will give food for thought. For example, only 26% of people who went
to a performance at a subsidised theatre knew it was subsidised. "Is that a good thing or a bad
thing?" said Crosby. "I don't know. Is it better that people just go the theatre and enjoy it?" For
some reason it is distinctly different in the north-east, where 47% knew they were visiting a
subsidised theatre.
It also shows an appetite for experimentation. The report's authors write: "The theatre world
has been insecure about its future for years now, but our report shows there is little reason to
be cautious."
The report also throws up interesting attitudes towards behaviour in the theatre, with 13%
thinking it acceptable to whisper and 80% admitting doing it. Meanwhile, 10% think it
acceptable to take a photograph, more than for whether it's OK to check your phone (8%) but
less than the figure for eating (17%). Nearly one in four tweet about what they have seen or are
about to see, rising to 47% among 16- to 19-year-olds. The report suggests that the bestknown show is Phantom of the Opera, with 94% of people showing awareness, compared with
Once the Musical, which is under 30%.
Crosby said she hoped the report would be of benefit to the theatre industry for which there was
a paucity of information compared with cinema. "At Ticketmaster we have a huge amount of
transactional data, but were missing data on how people feel, how they behave and what
motivates them. We hope there will be nuggets in here that will help the people who market
theatre and sell the tickets."
Mark Brown, arts correspondent
theguardian.com, Thursday 26 September 2013 06.02 BST

2. Individually, please answer these questions:
1. How is the article conceived (structure, messages conveyed, interviews...)?
2. Note interesting words or expressions you might want to use in your report on your own
findings, especially those:
- describing trends and findings
- introducing new concepts
- explaining causes
- emphasizing or stressing something in particular
- introducing likely consequences
- linking ideas
3. Did you find the article repetitive ? Why/why not ?
4. If you enjoyed reading this article, what do you think are the elements that made it a good
read ?