Industry insiders mount a stout defence of the state of play. If prices are higher, they argue, that owes much to the big hit taken by theatre owners and producers – operational costs, sophisticated third-party IT systems, the rise in VAT, hefty royalty fees, credit card commissions and so on. “Before you’ve even got out of bed, 45 per cent of your ticket money has gone elsewhere” says Nica Burns, producer and chief executive of Nimax Theatres, which runs five in the West End. “If I said I was going to charge £30 for a top-price ticket, I couldn’t afford to put a play on. You can champion the consumer as much as you like, but, if you tried to produce shows on that sort of price, there wouldn’t be a West End.”