Gate Theatre reports fourfold increase in revenues in post-pandemic recovery

The Gate Theatre on Parnell Square saw turnover increase almost fourfold in 2022, as box office income returned to normal levels after a “bruising Covid experience”.

Accounts filed by Edwards MacLiammoir Dublin Gate Theatre Productions DAC, the company which runs the Gate Theatre, show that turnover reached €2.33 million last year, up from €583,853 in 2021.

The directors’ report accompanying the accounts for the year to December 31st, 2022 noted that it was the “target-breaking performance of ticket income”, combined with savings in production expenditure and overheads due to delayed staff hires that delivered a surplus after tax of €141,037.

The theatre had close to a full season in 2022, with a programme of productions that “either met or exceeded box office targets”, as audience numbers rebounded from 15,194 in 2021 to 59,714 in 2022.

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While revenues quadrupled, in particular driven by a jump in box office revenue from €421,245 in 2021 to €1.96 million in 2022, the surplus of €141,037 is less than half of that reported by the theatre in 2021 (€331,844).

Directors said that 2022 was a year of “significant and promising change for the Gate Theatre”, as new artistic director Róisín McBrinn, and executive director Colm O’Callaghan joined the theatre in July under a new shared leadership structure as co-chief executives.

Mr O’Callaghan welcomed the break-even result for 2022, as early last year with Covid waves still occurring the theatre was facing the prospect of a “substantial deficit”.

“Thankfully, due to the significant success of several productions that attracted pre-Covid level attendance and box office income, we landed on a positive year-end result. Continued support from the Arts Council ensured stability and allowed the Gate to do some vital capacity rebuilding during 2022, which meant we emerged into 2023 in stronger shape,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

The theatre said that the pandemic illustrated the “fundamental importance” of its box office revenues, and that “pandemics aside, these revenues are exposed principally to the fluctuations in economic conditions and the quality of artistic output”.

It added that in early 2023 it recruited a new head of development to establish a fundraising and sponsorship roadmap, re-establish income goals, and inform the organisation’s income and financial model in the coming years.

Directors welcomed a “transformative uplift” in annual strategic funding from the Arts Council, which saw funding rise from €1.75 million in 2021 to €2.31 million in 2022, and the uplift has continued into 2023.

The accounts note that €150,000 of Arts Council funding for 2022 was used for maintenance and repairs of the theatre building, and to commission updated conservation plans. Directors said that in time a “comprehensive renovation of the building will likely be required”, and that this is under initial evaluation.