Box office income plunges at Abbey Theatre after 11 fewer productions staged
Gordon Deegan
Box office revenues at the Abbey Theatre last year plunged by €584,640 after the theatre staged 11 fewer productions than 2023.
The Abbey Theatre’s annual review for 2024 show that the theatre’s box office revenues last year totalled €2.059 million from staging 24 productions.
The box office revenues compare to €2.64 million for 2023 when the theatre put on 35 productions.
Some of the productions last year included Audrey or Sorrow, a world premiere by Marina Carr; Children of the Sun, a world premiere by Hilary Fannin and Safe House, a world premiere written and directed by Enda Walsh.
The lower output at the Abbey Theatre last year included a two month long Summer closure when the Abbey stage ‘went dark’ from mid July to late September when no production was staged.
The Abbey receives the largest single Arts Council grant of any cultural organisation in the country and the drop in box office income and number of productions stages coincided with Arts Council funding to the Abbey Theatre in 2024 increasing by €500,000 from €8 million to €8.5 million.
The 31pc drop in stage productions last year contributed to numbers attending Abbey Theatre productions last year declining by 28,553 or 26 per cent from 109,203 to 80,650.
The annual review shows that the productions generally were less popular on average with the public last year with a 67 per cent occupancy level in 2024 compared to 74 per cent in 2023.
A spokeswoman for the Abbey Theatre on Monday said that the 24 productions staged in 2024 compared to the 35 staged in 2023 accounts for the difference in box office revenues.
On the 2024 Summer closure, the spokeswoman said: “In Summer 2024 the Abbey had to undergo essential planned maintenance work on the stage for health and safety reasons. This was not optional.
She said:”The July/August period is not our busiest time of the year and so the maintenance works were scheduled for this time. During periods when there are no productions on stage, there are many other Abbey activities, including workshops, rehearsals, immersive backstage tours, writing commissions, national community and education initiatives and touring productions.”
On the 2025 box office performance to date, the spokeswoman said: “Box-office is performing well and we are meeting our expectations and ambitions for the year. However, as the end-of-year reconciliation has not taken place, all budget matters remain forecasts, rather than actuals. “
She said that a celebration of Irish storytelling is at the heart of the Abbey Theatre’s artistic programme for the second half of 2025 with six world premieres by Irish playwrights being produced.
She said: “World premieres by Kevin Barry, Jimmy McAleavey and Caitriona Daly have been staged throughout the summer, and we have new work from Marina Carr, Carys D. Coburn and Barbara Bergin on our stages from September until December.”
Asked if the Abbey Theatre recorded a surplus or loss in 2024, the spokeswoman would only say: "Our full 2024 financial audit will be published later this year.”
She said: “In line with our mission and responsibilities as the National Theatre of Ireland, our programming decisions are made based on a range of factors including artistic vision, artist engagement, audience engagement, inclusivity and financial reality.
She added: “We work closely with our funders at the Arts Council to ensure that the public funding invested in the Abbey brings value to the cultural life of Ireland, and to the wider theatre sector.”