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‘Theatres need cash injection’
A MAJOR cash boost is needed to restore Theatreland to its former glories, despite ticket sales being the highest ever recorded.
Box office revenue for 2007 topped £400 million for the first time, with an unprecedented 268 productions launched and more than 12 million tickets sold.
But theatre-owners are bidding for an immediate investment of £250 million to repair their crumbling Victorian playhouses.
Mark Field, MP for Cities of London and Westminster, has said: “Despite a dazzling, glamorous exterior, fundamental problems are entrenched in the industry. It is the producers who hire venues, not the theatre-owners themselves, who take box office receipts. “The need for a levy on each ticket sold is therefore one idea that is being debated in order for the real estate to live up to the demands of modern theatre-goers. The industry should avoid becoming complacent.” |
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