By James Hadley in London

The headlines have been full of economic doom and gloom for months now. But we're only just starting to see what sort of effect the economic downturn may have on the arts. I read a wonderfully upbeat column just the other day, suggesting that as artists are pretty much used to scrimping and saving all the time, we have a huge head start on most of the populace in terms of being creative in our economising.By James Hadley in London

The headlines have been full of economic doom and gloom for months now. But we're only just starting to see what sort of effect the economic downturn may have on the arts. I read a wonderfully upbeat column just the other day, suggesting that as artists are pretty much used to scrimping and saving all the time, we have a huge head start on most of the populace in terms of being creative in our economising.And that's not the only optimistic take that's possible for creative types. Some art forms are more likely to flourish in times of economic hardship, because people need to be entertained (and that's not to say that quality or intelligence need go out the window). Look at the golden age of Hollywood in the '30s, flourishing during the great depression. I don't claim to have a long list of such examples, but there are creative types around who are getting ready to be resourceful as the amounts of government funding for the arts look likely to reduce rather than increase over the next few years.

While Broadway has reported major shows closing down as a symptom of hard times, there have been surprisingly few casualties in the West End so far. Going to 5/6 shows most weeks, in a range of venues from 800+ seater big old proscenium arch venues to tiny pub theatres with only 40 seats - across that range of scales almost everything I go to see is at least 60% full, with most being around 75% full. It's staggering when you consider just how many venues there are around London, all managing to attract strong audience attendance. The biggest factor, I think, is that most English in the London region who had any kind of cultural upbringing formed a habit of regular theatre-going from an early age. And the tourists help - but they're only part of the equation in the big West End venues.

The most prominent casualty of the economic depression in the West End so far has been the musical Imagine This. It opened in mid November, to last barely six weeks, closing just before Christmas. And this was a major big budget musical, years in development, having had an out of town try-out season in the UK, and its American producers opening it in London because it's much much cheaper than risking an opening on Broadway first. There was much debate before it opened around whether it would be an absolute flop because of its depressing subject matter: a Jewish theatre company trying to stage a show within the Warsaw Ghetto. Long before anyone had seen the show, people were saying you just couldn't make a musical out of anything to do with the Holocaust. But look at 'Les Miserables' was the retort of many. No-one could have predicted that a show about the French Revolution would become the longest running musical in history.

I was lucky enough to catch the show at its third to last performance. I say lucky as, despite people staying away in droves, this was a strongly crafted piece, with beautifully written songs that gave an emotionally gripping and ultimately uplifting experience to its audiences. So much so that it inspired a rousing standing ovation at its end. Not what you expect of a show that's closing after just a few weeks, no doubt losing millions. Some have commented that reviews - which certainly influenced the low audience numbers - were overly concerned with the wider subject matter of the Holocaust, rather than reviewing the show on its own merits. Most reviews were actually quite favourable, and rightly so, but most readers heard 'holocaust musical' and who can blame them for visualising a singing version of 'Schindlers List'... Not exactly pre-Christmas feel good fare, is it?

My own expectations were much along these lines, but the entire musical is set within the Warsaw Ghetto. So while there is a background of impending doom, and almost all the characters are brutally executed offstage at the end of the show, it's a few steps down from actually portraying the inhumanities of the concentration camps, which really would seem a bit in bad taste if turned into a singing and dancing showstopper. 'Imagine This' has much in common with 'Les Mis' for being a rousing story of individuals standing up to oppression at often great personal cost. The production was staged in an operatic widescreen evocation of the largely derelict buildings of the Ghetto - at the New London Theatre which was famously redesigned to host 'Cats'. There were the usual slick stagings of numbers on the revolving stage, with atmospheric lighting and great acoustics.

The lead actor, Peter Polycarpou, did a moving and expert performance as the director/producer of the theatre company, who stage a production about the Jewish rebellion against the Romans at Masada in 70AD. Ultimately this becomes a desperate attempt to encourage the residents of the Ghetto to rise up against their captors, but tragically the message is too late to be successful. There is romance, of course, between a resistance fighter who the company shelter, masquerading as an actor to avoid capture by the Nazis, and - yes, you guessed it - he and his leading lady fall in love. This was the weakest part of the show, I felt, as you didn't get enough insight into these people prior to their desperate circumstances to care about them enough as individuals. But the quality of the songwriting throughout meant that the show was still by turns entertaining, moving and ultimately uplifting.

Had the show opened at a different time of year, I think it would have run for a year or more. Word of mouth from those who had actually seen it was clearly very strong - as witnessed by the rousing standing ovation. But unfortunately, as any programmer of a venue knows, you can't safely open a show with what's perceived to be a serious or depressing subject right before Christmas. It's the one time of year when even the most ascetic in tastes want to see pure feel-good entertainment. Had 'Imagine This' opened in January, it might have survived much longer, despite the economic downturn. I just hope that it gets another chance in the future, and doesn't completely disappear due to the bad timing of its debut. It's a show that many, under normal circumstances, will find deeply fulfilling theatre.

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Feel free to get in touch with any questions (or if you're planning a London visit and want some theatre recommendations) to jamesstuarthadley@gmail.com

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02/02/09