Record-breaking Newcastle Theatre Royal year

NEWCASTLE Theatre Royal had its most successful year since records began – attracting a total of 405,681 customers through its doors, as revealed in the company’s recent annual report.

Despite a drastically reduced level of funding, between April 1 2014 and March 31, 2015 the Grade 1 listed theatre welcomed 44 visiting theatre, opera, ballet and dance companies and presented 406 performances. The attendance figure was at 80 per cent capacity, which is an astonishing 21 per cent above the national average.

With a turnover of £12.4m (up £2.6m on last year), the not-for-profit theatre supported 50 full-time equivalent jobs across the North-East and returned £338,652 Tax, National Insurance and VAT.

There was a total of £10.3m worth of tickets sold, a boost when revenue funding is set to be axed for the next financial year. In addition to one of the UK's top regional pantomimes, the best business came from the shows Cats, Top Hat, Dirty Dancing and The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time.

Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust is an independent registered charity (No.504473) operating not-for-profit and keeping only a small percentage of the ticket price as a contribution towards the running costs.

Chief executive Philip Bernays says: “The year 2015/16 will be the first year we receive no funding from Newcastle City Council, so to have such a successful year in 14/15 is a hopeful indication of our strength and success in our new autonomy. The average price paid was £22.39, which is slightly below the national average for theatre tickets, and considerably lower than the price of a ticket for a Premier League football match."

Viv Hardwick