Theatre audiences slower to return to pre-pandemic levels than film

Audiences for theatre and live music are proportionally further from returning to pre-pandemic levels than those for cinemas and exhibitions, according to analysis of government data. 

The analysis was undertaken by consultancy firm Data Culture Change and advocacy organisation Campaign for the Arts.

It looked at data across nine art forms, including theatre, from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Participation Survey, which replaced its former Taking Part survey. 

The government poll is carried out quarterly, and surveys 8,000 people each quarter. 

The analysis looked at audiences for different art forms from October 2021 to June 2022. However, the researchers cautioned the results could not be compared to pre-pandemic data, because the Participation Survey methodology is different to that used for the Taking Part survey. 

According to the research, 27% of adults surveyed between April to June attended a live theatre event in the past 12 months, compared to 14% in October to December 2021, marking an increase of 13 percentage points. 

However, this figure is only at 71% of the pre-pandemic figure, with 38% of adults having attended a play, drama, musical, pantomime, ballet or opera in 2019/20. 

A quarter of adults surveyed between April to June 2022 said they had attended a live music event, which accounts for 69% of pre-pandemic audiences. 

While the two surveys cannot be compared entirely like-for-like, film and art-exhibition audiences appear to be closer to returning to their pre-pandemic levels.

Cinema audiences in April to June this year were at 80% of their 2019/20 figure, while exhibition audiences were at 86% of their pre-pandemic figure. 

Data Culture Change and Campaign for the Arts said the data from the first three quarters of the Participation Survey had shown a positive trend of audiences increasing for all art forms. 

For all but three art forms – festival or carnival, literary events and street art events – there was a larger rise in quarter two (January to March) than there was in quarter one (October to December, 2021), which the analysts argue suggests the ‘revival’ of these art forms will continue.

Data Culture Change’s chief executive David Brownlee said: "After 15 years of collecting audience data in a way that could be directly compared, it is frustrating that we cannot robustly compare engagement pre and post the pandemic, due to changes to content and methodology in the new survey. 

"It is very positive that DCMS is committed to the regular and swift publication of quarterly data, so we should soon know if the ‘revival’ in audiences returning has sped up or slowed down between July and September 2022."

Campaign for the Arts director Jack Gamble said the government data showed the "considerable" continuing impact of the pandemic on the arts. 

He added: "It’s encouraging to see a trend towards increased participation overall – but it’s a much slower recovery for some art forms, and especially in light of the energy and cost-of-living crisis, we need to ensure the trend towards recovery can continue.”