and if there is, how will it affect the West End? I have sympathy for employees who work in London on the minimum wage, as it must be near impossible to live, when the living wage for London is quite a lot higher.
What would the lost revenue be in terms of cancelled shows, if this is what would happen, to the theatres/actors? What would be the impact of such a pay increase be on the price of tickets – I would suggest that it would mean an inevitable price rise. Can London theatre sustain an increase in the price of tickets?
Visiting the theatre is already a luxury for many people and it would be very sad if more people were priced out of this form of entertainment – sadly there are already many people who have never been to the theatre, or certainly are not able to go on a regular basis – perhaps because they live too far away, or perhaps because of the cost. Although I have to say regional theatre seems to be on the up, with better quality shows, and a lot of the bigger London shows doing tours across the country, which certainly opens up the opportunity of seeing these to many more people.
Would an increase in the cost of London tickets mean that regional theatre visits increase? This could be a good and bad thing – but surely it would encourage the bigger shows to go touring across the UK rather than just have productions in London.
The Stage has an article here.
If you have any opinions on this topic I would love to hear them.