Plays Pushed Out by West End’s 29 Musicals???

Last summer, you may recall, producer Sonia Friedman was very vocal about the fact that On the Third Day - the product of her new writing competition The Play's The Thing on Channel 4 - was the only new play in the West End (See News, 19 Jun 2006). One year on, claimed Charles Spencer in a piece in the Daily Telegraph yesterday, and the situation is worsening. Not only are there few new plays, there are hardly any plays at all; soon only seven will be running in the commercial sector compared to a whopping 29 musicals. In his article about the opening night of The Last Confession, Spencer described how he reduced producer Nica Burns to tears when taking her "rather roughly to task" over the lack of straight drama; he highlighted the fact that those venues traditionally used to house plays are now housing musicals instead. Spencer writes "when musicals take over playhouses, they are often there for years rather than months, making it ever harder to get quality drama into the West End. The Aldwych, once the home of the RSC, now houses Dirty Dancing. The Noël Coward, a smashing theatre for plays, has Avenue Q... There should be intelligent, entertaining drama in these theatres."

Friedman's latest project, meanwhile, is a revival of a David Storey play - In Celebration - which begins previews tonight (5 July 2007) at The Duke of York's Theatre. Before play-lovers give a cheer, however, it should be noted that Little Shop of Horrors is transferring to the Ambassador's, one of the venues Spencer highlights as a typically play-receiving theatre.

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