Time Expired Plays

I'm waiting til they announce last weeks but of course I might not last that long.....

I couldn't possibly wish for any play to close. Theatre is, above all, a business - unless you're lucky enough to be paid to produce stuff regardless of whether anyone wants to watch it or not. If there is no money to be made there will be less theatre, it's that simple.

There are plenty of theatres which operate in rep or short runs as their business models so I'm not too worried that a couple of theatres have long-running tenants. Neither would I wish for people who want to watch one of them to miss out, even if the productions feel tired to my jaded palate.

I think The Mousetrap may carry on forever, and maybe The Phantom too. The others will close later or later. In a way, although it is sometimes painted as a sign of the theatre's decline, it actually shows that theatre is in a healthy state as there are new audiences coming in every year. I cannot think that people who go to The Mousetrap are repeat attendees. And who knows? Someone goes to a long-runner as their first experience as because they know nothing else they enjoy it and end up watching obscure two-handers in country pubs. Who knows?

I saw a decent "Cards On The Table" once with Gordon Jackson it. But these plays are what they are, everything has its style or genre or authorial mark. I have yet to see a play by Shakespeare which doesn't rely heavily on iambic pentameter.

At the end of the day we either accept they are (or were) popular for whatever reason or we decide that the millions of people who've enjoyed Agatha Christie are unmitigated fools.