One of the perennial complaints about theatregoing is the iniquitous cost of theatre programmes. According to the West End Whingers, programmes for Legally Blonde, now in previews at the Savoy, cost “an absurd £6.50” - which as they go on to exclaim, “Outrageous! It’s a souvenir brochure of sorts but only contains rehearsal pictures. Proper programmes won’t be available apparently until January when the show eventually opens to the press. Phil just couldn’t and wouldn’t buy one on principle. It’s something that needs stamping on and quickly. Andrew was so loved up with the whole show that he was seduced. Shame on him.”
The management would of course reply that they’re not obligatory; you pay your money (or not), and take your chances. Phil chose not to; Andrew did. But for most people, they are part of the whole experience. And it seems that they’ve now become just another part of the fleecing exercise that the West End has to part customers from their money, on top of the already extortionate price of the tickets and the means of purchase imposed on top of that in booking fees.
At The Misanthrope last night, I noticed that the programme is now £4. At least there are a couple of articles on the play inside it, running to eight pages in all, in addition to twelve pages of biographies and four pages of credits (title page, centrespread cast and creative list, and production credits page). Most of this, of course, is for the ego of the company, more than it is for the edification of the audience. Do we really need two pages of credits that let us know what the producers have put on in the past?
The programme for Aladdin at Wimbledon may be in A4 magazine format, but for £3.50, you get 36 pages (plus glossy cover), only 19 pages of which are related to the show itself, and all of them are merely biographies of the cast and creative team. There are no background articles at all. Instead, you have to plough through badly written platitudes, like the introduction to Pamela Anderson’s biography that says, “To say that Pamela Anderson is enjoying a full life would clearly be an understatement; the most recognizable icon of the new millennium continues to hit her stride again and again in so many different fields.”
And after ploughing through those many fields - including the launch of her own fragrance and extensive collection of related products, “now available in drug stores across America and coming to Europe at the beginning of the year, and even initiatives that are only under discussion, like “negotiations are ongoing for the launch of several international spa/hotels based around Pamela’s name and her principles” - she finally reveals that she had to be carefully explained just what pantomime is, “and that she was not just going to be pretending to be trapped in an invisible box”.
Actually, she ends up suspended in an aerial sliver of moon instead for much of the evening. But I’m glad to know that “At 41 years old this powerful woman, devoted mother, sex symbol and style icon continues to live life on her own terms and give meaning to everything she does.”
But I am guessing that Pamela Anderson at least wasn’t personally responsible for such gushy mush. No doubt it would be her “people” who are to blame. But the programme stands as a permanent record; even when this show is long forgotten, someone can read it and marvel.
On the other hand, sometimes you can read a programme and actually learn something. The one for Katie Mitchell’s new production of The Cat in the Hat that has just opened at the National’s Cottesloe is, presumably aimed at the 3-6 year olds that the show is also targeting. But I love her vision statement of exactly what it is a director does: “This means that I organise where everyone stands and what they say and do. I also work with Gareth [Fry, sound designer] and Paul [Clark, composer] to decide what sounds and music are in the show, and with Vicki [Mortimer, designer] and Jon [Clark, lighting designer] to decide what the audience looks at minute by minute.” Since Mitchell also did the adaptation, she’s making it clear that she was definitely steering this ship….
But who is steering the West End ship? At least on Broadway the programme comes free, in the shape of a useful Playbill that also operates as a neat marketing tool for Broadway itself, containing features about other Broadway attractions, listings and restaurant information. It’s high time we followed suit.
And the two pages of info about the producer (ATG) wasn't even up to date. It hadn't been updated since the Live Nation purchase...
I am guilty of buying theatre programmes too and now have ran out of space in my bookshelf to store them! I love programmes that do tell a lot more about the production and not just the actor's biographies, although I must say the Arcola does it really well because you also get the playtext and just for £3!
It's worth pointing out that the Producer gets none of the programme cover price. It is solely a theatre owner's perk.
It's quite a lot of work putting a programme together and the bulk of the work falls to the producer's office who curse and spit and grumble like hell.
Until recently producers were charged large sums of money to have the show's logo on the front of the programme.
Producers are allowed to produce the larger format Souvenir Brochure - lots of glossy pictures - very little type. This is only really suitable fror musicals - and the theatre takes 25% of the cover price.
Editorially they have improved a great deal over the last few years - although they still don't really seem like value for money.
I always ask if we can issue a free cast list - the answer is always a shocked negative.
I actually don't care who does or does not profit from ripping me off of the 3 or 4 or 5 pounds for a programme . The fact remains that it is, with the exception of those theatres which offer playtexts as programmes or the National which are tremendously educational and informative, a ripoff. Another way to rip the pounds out of an avid theatregoer's hand. And frankly, if the theatre owners are also the producers of the plays in their theatres then they are reaping the profits from the programmes . It all adds up in the theatregoers mind and pocket and while the press continues to report that the West End is flourishing one has to wonder what the long term effects of all of these miscellaneous expenses will be.