ITS JUST NOT BIG SHOWS

Australian theatre has been here before. Back in the early '90s recession, Australian theatre companies were saying the exact same thing: funding drying up, audiences pulling back.

And it's happening again.

Beetlejuice. Back to the Future. Waitress. Three big shows gone in the space of a year, and everyone's got a theory.

But this is what happens during a cost of living crisis.

Things are changing, and not everyone has the spare money to spend on a touring show anymore — that's not the industry failing, that's people making harder choices with less.

I know this firsthand. Our tickets to Beetlejuice and Anastasia in Melbourne, and Back to the Future, were sitting around $125 each. Add flights for two of us, two nights in a CBD hotel, food, and a bit of spending money, and you're looking at $1,500–2,000 for the trip — for a $125 ticket. When I look at it that way, I get why touring prices creep up. It's the same travel math, multiplied by a whole production.

Even the producers agree with me. When Beetlejuice and Waitress closed, neither statement blamed audiences — both pointed to cost of living and a more cautious spending environment.

And more government support sounds like the easy answer — but that support has to come from somewhere, and right now that's more tax, from people already struggling with cost of living.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see more funding for the arts, but I'm not going to ask an already-stretched creative to hand over more of their pay to make that happen.

And if you want someone to blame — blame thirty years of bad politics on both sides. Our elected officials, during this time frame, have never really thought about the future, and what's going on now proves it.

But no amount of government support to the arts will change the fact that people need a roof over their head before a ticket to a show.

Professional companies aren't the only ones feeling this.

Community and independent companies are under the same pressure, often with less support than anyone realizes.

No grants.

No buffer.

They rely solely on the audience. Every time.

These volunteer-run organizations rely on individuals who juggle work and family commitments to keep them going, continually creating opportunities for creatives in these hard times.

This cost of living crisis isn't going away any time soon. That's the hard truth.

But hard times are also where the real opportunities show up for the people willing to keep creating & keep adapting.

That's not settling. That's how a creative industry survives.

#AustralianTheatre #Communitytheatre #TheDramaMerchant