drury lane theatre royal, relatives prices 1946 till 2011 relative inflation factor 31 x
drury lane theatre notice board prices 1946
In 1946 to sit and watch a production in the balcony was 3’3 or 3 shillings and thruppence ie £0.39p pre decimilasation and 16.25p in new pence post decimilisation, rounded to 16p using the inflation app on the iphone that price in todays money is £5.06 for a balcony seat.
To watch shrek an adaption of a bloody kids cartoon at the theatre today will cost you £31.50.
£31.50 divided £5.06 = 6.136 meaning, that theatre going has in relative terms become 6.13 times more expensive than it was in 1946 in relative terms ? for the cheapest seats ?
cost of a box
boxes in 1946 cost anywhere from £1 – £7 lets say on average the price was £4.00 meaning the current value is £128.00 , lord knows what the price of a box is today but considering they take 4 to 6 people and the grand circle is £81.50 im guessing in the £400-800 range ? bit interesting to get that info really ? anybody know the price of a box at the drury
The grand circle tickets were in 1946 15’6 or 186p in old pence meaning 77.5p in new pence that equates £24.35 in new money directly. A seat to see shrek in the grand circle today will cost you £81.50 divided by 24.35 = 3.3 times more expensive in relative terms for a seat in the grand circle.
so strangely the poor person is paying 6 times more to see a play at the theatre today than they were in 1946 ? whereas someone who can afford seats in the grand circle in 1946 there ticket price has only gone up 3.3 times.
my suspicion is the boxes have probably gone up even less than the grand circle in relative terms above and beyond inflation.
The other question is has the theatre actually got six time more expensive for the poor person ? in relative terms, im sure theatres would claim productions were more expensive to put on with effects and such but lets be honest im not sure the patrons care for the six fold increase whichever way, the point is the west end has become infected with this american style disney-esque effect driven monster cash cow las vegas style productions, driving proper theatre productions away from the poor. Its true of all markets if you put prices up to much you will some of the people who might have been prepared to go. the question how full or empty are the theatres and are they shooting themselves in the foot ? it seems to me in relative expenditure terms going to the theatre was not the kind of expensive fretted decision it is today, perhaps its mass international tourism that has turned these venues into money milking machines for the tourist, disenfranchising the local poor london familys ? for a family of four to go see Shrek at its cheapest will cost you £126 not including booking fees probably ?