Theater statistics 2023: the activity of theater makers crowned by the highest number of theater visits to date

On Monday, September 2, 2024, the yearbook Teatrielu 2023 was presented at the House of Known Unknowns in Tartu, along with a brief overview of last year's theater statistics. It was revealed that 2023 set a record in Estonia for both the number of theatergoers and theater creators.

In 2023, there were over 1.3 million visits (1,327,980) to 7,188 performances. Theaters had 716 productions in their repertoires, 270 of which were new productions. With these numbers, Estonian theater successfully caught up with the previously most successful year, 2019, even surpassing all previous years in many areas. The data represents the largest number of theaters and production projects: 94 contributors provided data for 2023, including 11 state and city theaters.

According to the 2023 Cultural Participation Survey by Statistics Estonia, 79% of Estonians aged 15 and over attended cultural events. Of these, 39.9%, or 451.7 thousand people, went to the theater. Generally, residents of Tartu County were the most active in attending cultural events at 83.6%, while theater attendance was nearly equal among residents of Harju, South, and West Estonia at 41-43%. Comparing this survey data with Estonian theater statistics, it can be said that each theatergoer attended the theater an average of 2.9 times a year.

In 2023, there was an average of 185 viewers per theater performance, with an average of 19.6 performances to choose from each day, and an average of 3,638 viewers attending the theater daily. Compared to 2022, there were 380 more performances, an 8% increase, with 581 more people attending the theater daily. Additionally, there were more premieres – one new production every 11 days. Going further with these numbers, it can be said that a new premiere occurs every 32 hours in Estonian theater (not excluding weekends and public holidays in this calculation).

Unlike other numbers that fell during the COVID-19 years, the number of creators has maintained a steady upward trend with no decline in any year. Among the 94 theaters represented in 2023 are those who shared their statistical data. There were also around ten additional associations and organizations producing stage productions. The overall picture of the theater year included 7 radio plays by the Radio Theater and 43 new productions by amateur theaters (65).

The most visited theaters remained the Estonian National Opera (140,140), Vanemuine (139,075), and the Estonian Drama Theatre (129,300), which set a new record for the number of visits in 2023. The number of visits to the 11 state and municipal theaters increased by 155,474 compared to the previous year, reaching 893,523.

Among private theaters, the most viewers were attracted by Vana Baskini Teater (31,214), Piip and Tuut Teater (26,777), VAT Teater (23,104), and Delfi Meedia with two productions (20,256).

Summer has developed into a unique season offering an alternative to the rest of the year, mainly with its distinctive venues. However, there are not more productions in the repertoire during these three months – around 100 productions, half of which are new – nor are there more performances. While in the winter months, the daily average number of performances in theater repertoires is 20, in summer, it is 11 (in the summer of 2023, there were 1,028 performances, while in spring and autumn, there were about 1,800–1,900 performances over three months).

The most expensive average ticket price was for musical productions – 20.12 euros (excluding VAT) – while prices for spoken word and dance productions were equal at 17.5 euros, and multi-genre productions were slightly more expensive at 18.28 euros. The cheapest tickets were for circus performances at 4.18 euros and puppet productions at 6.95 euros. Compared to two years ago, the average ticket price increased by 1.9 euros (to 17.3 euros). As the number of performances and viewers also grew significantly, theater ticket revenues increased by over five million euros. Ticket revenue accounted for 22% of theater income.

State operational support was received by 28 theaters; in addition, three theaters received support for projects and cost coverage. Municipal support was given to 22 private and state theaters, most of which received it as project support or to cover administrative and other costs. Six theaters received support from local governments to cover labor costs.

There were reportedly 27 performing arts festivals aimed at different target groups. Foreign performers from 23 countries gave performances with 43 productions in Estonia. In the previous decade, Estonian theaters gave about 10% of their performances abroad; in 2023, they performed 48 productions in 22 countries, but the 158 performances given abroad accounted for only 2.2% of the year's activities, with attendance abroad making up 2.6% of the year's total attendance.

Alongside festivals, concerts, balls, film evenings, lecture series, workshops, and performance activities, theaters contributed to Estonia's cultural life in 2023 with 10,119 cultural events for 1,576,627 million visitors.

More detailed data is available in the statistics database of the Estonian Theatre Agency: https://teater.ee/teatristatistika

Estonian Theatre Agency thanks all the theaters, data contributors, and collaborators!

Photo from Swan Lake by the Estonian National Opera. Photo by Jack Devant