“I don’t go because it’s boring and for snobs”. There’s a commonly-held belief that the performing arts, especially theatre, are strictly for the upper classes. Widely accepted to have begun in ancient Greece, theatre was originally very much for the masses. Of course, back then there wasn’t that much on the telly. Leap forward to Elizabethan times and Shakespeare’s Globe truly provided entertainment for all classes. Apart from the really, really poor. Victorian music halls were hugely popular, and yet today theatre is often viewed as an expensive diversion for the undeserving rich. Is this true?
Admittedly, the prices can be ridiculous. A premium seat at a West End venue won’t leave you much change from £100, multiply by four if you’re taking the nuclear family, add transport, refreshments (avoid the bar), programmes, and Netflix quickly starts to look very appealing. But away from the stalls, tickets are much more acceptably priced. Certainly cheaper than supposedly utilitarian entertainments such as football and pop concerts. Smaller London and regional venues have narrower but lower price banding, and don’t forget local amateur productions. It might not be the cheapest night out, but it doesn’t have to be ruinously expensive. Just don’t visit the bar, unless you consider Harrods to be vulgarly underpriced.
Back when it was funny, Viz comic created a character called Luvvie Darling, a stereotypical effete actor type. This (not altogether unfairly) perceived preciousness fuels resentment in some, unaware that the days of flannel-clad undergraduates bounding into drawing rooms enquiring about tennis have long since passed.
Is theatre boring? Well yes, it can be, often excruciatingly so. The National Theatre currently seems hell-bent on trying the patience of its audience, but that’s nothing new. Between the famous lines about winters of discontent and kingdoms for horses, Richard III can be a real endurance test. There again, have you never been bored by the TV?
Modern theatre is far more varied than might be imagined. No matter what your tastes there’s something out there to enjoy, and at a reasonable price. Unless, that is, you fancy a drink at the bar…