West End's crowning glory

London's theatreland is defying the downturn thanks to cash injections and screen stars who love the stage, writes Al Senter

It may shock some economists and business pundits, but it's not doom and gloom in all sectors. Commercial theatre has started 2009 in good shape. Last year was a good one for the West End. Figures from the Society of London Theatre showed attendances up to just shy of 14 million, with box-office revenue rising to almost £500m. Both Kenneth Branagh's return to the stage and David Tennant's run as Hamlet caused stampedes for tickets.

Of course, the West End has long outlived its obituarists. Critics claim there are too many tourists and a glut of musicals. Throw in cramped seating, poor sightlines, inadequate loos and crowded bars and theatregoers look increasingly masochistic. Then there are the ticket prices, with a night out for two, including a meal, leaving little change from £200.

But thanks to a concentrated blast of star power, London theatre remains in bullish mood. The first six months of 2009 will see Rowan Atkinson as Fagin in Oliver!, Ken Stott in A View From The Bridge, Imelda Staunton and Mathew Horne in Entertaining Mr Sloane, James McAvoy in Three Days of Rain, Alison Steadman in Enjoy, Richard Dreyfuss and David Suchet in Complicit, Judi Dench and Frances Barber in Madame de Sade, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Simon Callow in Waiting For Godot and Jude Law, hoping to efface memories of David Tennant's Hamlet.

So why is London theatre thriving? Part of the answer can be found in the changing nature of theatre ownership. Between them Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh own about a quarter of the 40-odd venues and both men have devoted generous amounts of cash to refurbishment programmes. Delfont Mackintosh Theatres has spent more than £25m on key venues. Both Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber have deep pockets, but they are also creative personalities rather than faceless corporates and both understand customers' needs.

"One of Cameron's main concerns is to improve the theatre-going experience for his audiences and bring his theatres into the 21st century," explains Rosy Runciman, whose title of archivist hardly covers her close involvement in the Mackintosh theatre upgrades. "There's new seating, new carpeting and new wallpaper. Where possible, we've improved access, bar facilities and the provision of loos. Everything has been done in association with English Heritage and Westminster City Council, which appreciate that these theatres are a vital source of income and which are now more amenable to what we're trying to achieve," she adds.

The Donmar Warehouse, despite its geographical position in the heart of Covent Garden, is not considered a West End theatre. It is a publicly funded house and as such it has been able to offer subsidised ticket prices for its season. But the Donmar season at Wyndhams has been closely monitored. The impact of its production of Ivanov is another reason for the current vibrancy in the West End. Stars such as Derek Jacobi, Branagh, Dench and Law are reportedly earning salaries lower than the weekly four- or five-figure sums they would command in the West End proper. Their willingness to take a pay cut reflects their faith in Michael Grandage, the Donmar's artistic director.

Distinguished actress Penelope Wilton, who will play Gertrude opposite Law in Hamlet, believes that the Donmar season at Wyndhams may provide a template for the West End's future.

"Theatre tickets can be fantastically expensive, but at Wyndhams they are affordable. What you would have paid for one ticket is enough for two. The Donmar's season points to the way forward. It's wonderful to see actors working on a selection of plays under the vision of an artistic director such as Michael."

Wilton points out that most of the people appearing in the West End over the next few months are more mature. "As you get older, playing good parts in good plays becomes more important. Not everyone just wants to see Oliver!, they also want to see plays that stimulate and challenge them."

For sound economic reasons, actors have to complement theatre work with stints in television and film. This has led to the phenomenon of the limited West End run, typically 16 weeks. "Our style of acting requires enormous commitment," says Wilton. "So limited seasons are ideal. A show tends to go off after about three months. A six-month run is the most you can do while maintaining standards."

In all likelihood, the thousands who flocked to the Novello to see David Tennant give his Hamlet, were blissfully unaware of his past credits with the RSC and the National Theatre. They wanted to see their favourite Timelord in action in the flesh.

With rare exceptions, stardom is now created on screen rather than on stage. This has led to producers importing Hollywood stars into the West End, sometimes with mixed results financially and artistically. The latest example was Josh Hartnett in Rain Man at the Apollo, a stage adaptation of the Tom Cruise/Dustin Hoffman film. Starring opposite him in the Hoffman role of Raymond, the autistic savant, was Adam Godley. He cites the results of a survey of more than a thousand theatregoers carried out by the Apollo's owners, Nimax Theatres.

"Three-quarters of the audience were under 35 and 31 per cent were under 24," he says. "Over half were not regular theatregoers. Doing Rain Man was one of the most exciting theatrical experiences of my career and that was down to reaching such a young and passionate audience."

Investing in the commercial theatre has also, it seems, become a fairly safe bet. With other markets in turmoil, entrusting your nest egg to the expert hands of producers such as David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers may not be too much of a risk. They have a formidable record of success. Recent productions of Equus and of God of Carnage have rewarded investors.

But West End plays, like musicals, need hefty capitalisation. "Equus cost £700,000 and God of Carnage £525,000," says Rogers. "Other producers might criticise us for spending money on production values. We prefer to put actors into hand-made suits rather than something off-the-peg because an actor walks differently in a hand-made suit and it changes his performance. We like the audience to see the bang they're getting for their buck."

Rogers believes in the power of recommendation and suggests that this factor may be fuelling the current West End boom."Good theatre breeds good theatre and the best form of marketing is word of mouth. Give 1,000 people a good time each night at the theatre and next day they will each tell 10 of their friends."

Director Christopher Luscombe, whose Enjoy is running at the Gielgud, says the West End is in fashion again. "Take Mathew Horne from Gavin and Stacey. He should bring a young audience to Entertaining Mr Sloane, and doing a West End play will look good on his CV. When I direct actors coming back to the theatre after doing a lot of television, they say how great it is to be working on a good script again."

Like the good marketing man he is, Anthony Pye-Jeary, managing director of Dewynters, agrees it is all about quality. "It's to do with product. People will go without a new car or a holiday in order to sample that product. Theatre tickets are still relatively affordable and you don't always have to go to the Ivy for dinner afterwards."