We want some fun at a theatre – not a sermon

Lloyd Evans’s article last week about woke theatre was spot-on. I used to go to every performance at the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester. However, preCovid, I hadn’t been for three or four years and I won’t be going when the theatre reopens. I object to paying to be told what to think.

A. Lawson, Manchester

The only people who should be preached at are church-goers. We go out to the theatre for entertainment, not a sermon.

R. Nicholson, Elvington, North Yorkshire

The theatre is a wide church and it is great that its range will widen to respond to matters of the moment.

If one generation is made aware of new interpretations of Hamlet, that seems to be evidence of welcome creativity.

Pauline Lyseight-Jones, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire

Lloyd Evans’s article reminded me of a quote I once read which said: If you underfund the theatre, they will give the public what they want; if you overfund the theatre, they will give the public what they think they ought to want.

Roger White, Louth, Lincolnshire

Why doesn’t Lloyd Evans actually try going to one of these productions? Who knows – he may learn something new instead of simply closing his mind to different ideas.

S. Grant, Liverpool

There is a simple solution here. If you hate woke culture and Leftwing tripe, then don’t go.

John Kent, London

Lloyd Evans says it costs the taxpayer £16.7 million a year to keep the National Theatre afloat. As an extremely small number of people go to the venue each year, wouldn’t this money be better spent funding the NHS?

M. Harrison, Newcastle

The amount of subsidy a theatre gets should be dependent on its audience level.

If it fails to reach a certain percentage for a set number of shows, its subsidy is cut. That would help ensure theatres use taxpayers’ money to entertain all of us.

S. Woods, Aberdeen

In a sense this is nothing new. Go back to the 1960s and you’ll see an abundance of so-called ‘kitchen sink’ dramas, all exploring the experiences of the working class in some way.

But, as worthy as some of these efforts might be, they will be somewhat self-defeating if few people turn up to see them – and theatres cannot exist without an audience.

L. Stuart, Halifax

In reality, the theatre after lockdown will look pretty much like it did before, with a variety of content to appeal to all types.

R. Hamilton, London