Apparently theatre in London had a bad Olympics, although this was buried under a headline of theatre 'holding up in Olympic year' and some good news about a rise in ticket sales for the year as a whole. At the end of January, AP reported the Society of London Theatre as saying that sales and attendance had dropped during the summer Games, described as a 'dampening effect', but this was played down as, it was claimed, it had not been as bad as some had feared. However, no specific information was provided to show how bad it really was during the Olympics.

AP referred to 'pre-games worries that concerns about transport mayhem and overcrowding would scare audiences away from central London' as if this never happened. So it seems the usual Games amnesia has kicked in. Remember this or this about 'deserted London'?

Mark Rubenstein of SOLT is quoted as describing 2012 as a year of 'exceptional challenges'. I thought it was supposed to be a year of 'exceptional opportunities'.