Set materials 'double in price' as theatres struck by nationwide shortage

British theatre is being hit by an unprecedented rise in the cost of basic set-making materials, adding thousands of pounds to budgets and putting productions under threat, designers and production staff have warned.

The price of widely used timbers such as MDF and birch plywood have doubled in recent months, with theatre becoming the latest industry to be hit by a nationwide materials shortage as demand outstrips supply. This has been fuelled by a growth in home improvements during lockdown, supply-chain issues due to the global pandemic and Brexit, and an increasingly competitive market.

While concerns have been widely expressed across the construction industry, the knock-on effects are now being felt by production departments and stage designers. Items that could previously be supplied next day are taking weeks to come into stock, with basic materials used to make theatre sets now accessible only for inflated prices, theatre professionals told The Stage.

Timber is being hardest hit, but the costs of fabric, metals and paint are also rising as a result of the shortage.

A recent production at Derby Theatre cost £10,000 more to produce than expected, its artistic director Sarah Brigham said.

She described the situation as "really problematic" at present and "untenable" if it continued.

"Timber seems to have doubled in price since before the pandemic, making our last show £10,000 over budget. Set builders have been hard hit during the pandemic and they understandably have no choice but to pass the costs on, but for theatres who are struggling to get audiences back, this makes things really tricky, and if it continues it will be untenable.

"We also support a lot of smaller independent companies and for them it’s just impossible. They don’t have a whole season of work so can’t shift risk between shows," she said.

The shortage comes at a time when budgets are reduced as theatres recover from the pandemic, and could result in creative cutbacks if the problem does not ease, Brigham said.

"I hope it will sort itself out but we are in a world where increasing income to meet these costs just isn’t possible. Audiences are still reluctant, and funding sources are incredibly competitive. If something doesn’t give then the eventual outcome can only mean cost has to be cut elsewhere, and that means smaller casts and less complex sets."

Kate John, the National Theatre’s head of production workshops, said the issues first arose in the spring of this year, when theatres restarted operations after lockdown to find prices for some materials had doubled, and availability was "dramatically reduced".

Plywood prices had skyrocketed, with the cost of other timber supplies, paints and metals also continuing to rise.

"We’ve had to wait weeks for materials to come in. Usually our suppliers are so great that we get it on next-day delivery, but they just haven’t been able to get it themselves.

"Suddenly you’re rummaging through the off-cuts bin that we put aside for a rainy day," she said, adding that on the positive side the challenges had accelerated sustainability efforts, pushing the NT towards recycling sets from previous shows and contributing to its commitment to the Theatre Green Book.

Reading-based timber supplier Creffields equips a significant proportion of the theatre industry. Its director, Nigel Creffield, told The Stage that the unprecedented demand was showing no sign of stopping, with the cost of MDF rising by 40% in August alone.

The company buys timber from countries including Russia, Ireland, Brazil, Malaysia and China but Creffield said the US posed the biggest problem for the UK market, as US buyers pay significantly more for materials, meaning producers were diverting shipments across the Atlantic to achieve higher prices.

UK suppliers were also subject to a cap, he said, meaning his company could only buy in a certain amount, for which he was vastly oversubscribed. The issue has been compounded by border delays and labour shortages, Creffield said, with lorries that would previously have taken two days to unload waiting for several weeks.

Elsewhere, the industry is also suffering from a skills and labour shortage, with freelancers moving across to higher-paid roles in TV and film production during lockdown and independent set builders also forced to raise prices after struggling during Covid.

John said this was just as big a concern as the materials shortage, while theatre designer Grace Smart told The Stage that the combination of both materials and labour costs increasing had resulted in a recent show costing 150% of its intended budget.

The changes have made planning and delivering a project significantly more challenging, she said, when designers were used to knowing what they can achieve with a stated budget.

"I’ve never before had to convince a director to cut set before. We all thought we knew what we could do, but we spent more time redesigning the show than designing it – more time chipping away and cutting costs than we did coming up with the concept," she said.

Smart added: "The more unknowns there are, the harder it is. And there are a lot of unknowns."