West End Theatres

MORI recently completed a year long research project for the Society of London Theatre, asking theatregoers about their experiences, reasons for visiting, and levels of expenditure. More than 6,500 people took part, making this the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken of West End theatregoers.

The findings of the survey include:

• 92% of respondents rated their overall enjoyment of their theatre visit positively (61% 'Very Good' 31% 'Fairly Good'),
• 80% said the same about the value for money of theatre tickets (48% 'Very Good' and 32% 'Fairly Good').
• Four in five theatregoers who live outside London say that the theatre played an important part in their decision to visit London, with two in five saying it was the main reason. Almost three in 10 London theatregoers are from overseas.

The Society of London Theatre has been surveying the West End theatre audience at five year intervals since the 1980s. In this latest survey, carried out throughout 2003, audiences at 45 different productions -- plays and musicals and opera and dance -- were handed self completion questionnaires. Final data were weighted to the known profile of theatregoers, by genre and season.

Copies of 'The West End Theatre Audience' are available at 16340 + 1631.75 p&p per order from The Society of London Theatre, 32 Rose Street, London WC2E 9ET or by calling 020-7557 6700. (www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk)

Technical details

Surveys were carried out at 45 performances across the West End, between 13th March 2003 - 9th February 2004. The productions surveyed included examples of all the main types of production in London theatres: musicals, plays, opera, dance, entertainments and performance pieces. The relative frequency of each type of production within the project was designed to be relatively representative of a typical year in London theatre. Each adult (15+) member of the audience was handed a self-completion questionnaire on arrival at the theatre, by a team member wearing a distinctive SOLT T-shirt. In total, 6,615 responses were received, from 20,150 questionnaires handed out at the productions, which equates to a response rate of 33%.

The final data were weighted in accordance with known box office data (provided by the SOLT Box Office Data Project) on audience numbers by season and by production type.