Figures from 2024 include two-month summer closure and coincided with €500,000 boost in Arts Council funds
The Abbey Theatre’s annual review for 2024 shows that the theatre’s box office revenues last year totalled €2.059m from the staging of 24 productions.
The box office revenues compares with €2.64m 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; Hilary Fannin’s adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s Children of the Sun; 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 summer closure when the Abbey stage “went dark” from mid-July to late September and no production was staged.
Marie Mullen, Anna Healy and Nick Dunning in ‘Audrey or Sorrow’ at the Abbey Theatre. Photo. Ros Kavanagh
The Abbey receives the largest single Arts Council grant of any cultural organisation in the country.
The drop in box-office income and the number of productions staged coincided with Arts Council funding to the Abbey Theatre increasing by €500,000 from €8m to €8.5m.
The 31pc drop in stage productions last year contributed to numbers attending Abbey Theatre productions declining by 26pc, from 109,203 to 80,650.
The annual review shows that the productions were on average less popular with the public last year. Occupancy levels in 2024 were 67pc, compared with 74pc in 2023.
On the 2024 summer closure, an Abbey Theatre 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.
During periods when there are no productions on stage, there are many other Abbey activities
”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.
“World premieres by Kevin Barry, Jimmy McAleavey and Caitríona 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.”
Stuart Graham in Children of the Sun. Photo: Ros Kavanagh
On whether the Abbey Theatre recorded a surplus or loss in 2024, the spokeswoman said: “Our full 2024 financial audit will be published later this year.
“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.
“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.”
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