Dublin Theatre Sells Out

The Stage reports that despite the recession in Ireland ticket sales for the Dublin Theatre Festival have been very healthy.

But the economic downturn has had no impact on the event, with ticket sales 40% ahead of the same period last year and some of the 27 shows to be staged over the 18 days of the festival already sold out.

"We are one of the few sectors of the economy where revenue and sales are growing," said Loughlin Deegan, festival artistic director and chief executive. "It would be interesting to know why, when times are bad, people return to the theatre."

Perhaps, he suggested, it was that holidays abroad were being cancelled because of the credit crunch, with the money being spent on home entertainment instead.

He described the box office queues on opening day as unprecedented. Among the shows for which there is already a waiting list for tickets are The Year of Magical Thinking at the city's Gaiety Theatre, with Vanessa Redgrave, directed by David Hare, and Black Watch, the award-winning show from the National Theatre of Scotland, which is running at the Royal Dublin Society's Shelbourne Hall. Strong ticket sales are also reported for the National Theatre's production of Happy Days, with Fiona Shaw, at the Abbey.