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Since 1980 the Society of London Theatre has been collating and analysing box office statistics from member-theatres. This includes over forty West End theatres and the larger subsidised houses such as the National Theatre and the RSC when in London. The figures are classified and analysed to provide a gauge of performance success for different types of performances within the commercial and subsidised sectors. This information appears as a monthly report for producers and theatre manages to make informed decisions on programming, timing and pricing. These reports are exclusive to the SOLT membership. However there is also an annual report made available to the public that analyses the previous year’s data for trends and developments as well as placing it in the broader context of the arts and the leisure/tourism sectors. This quantitative research is balanced by qualitative questionnaire based research undertaken by Mori. Combined they provide the basis for specially commissioned reports such as last year’s high profile Wyndham Report - The Economic Impact of London’s West End Theatre.
From June 1999 the contract for undertaking the quantitative research and analysis was awarded to Gerald Lidstone of Arts Interlink a member of staff at Goldsmiths College University of London assisted by Mary Stewart David as an associate researcher. To date a new system of categorisation has been developed as well as an original software programme to analyse the West End data. Since the recent terrorist event on September 11, with the resulting decline in tourism to the UK the data is now prepared weekly to show precise trends so that advice can be provided to develop strategies to aid recovery of a very large industry. There is extensive reference to the reports in The UK Cultural Sector profile and policy issues. PSI ISBN 085374 789
Selwood, Sarah 2001.
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