World Theatre Day

„All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players”

It is probably the most famous and most quoted sentence we associate with theatre, written by the world theatre virtuoso William Shakespeare. We may all be players, but only some of us are theatre artists. In their honour, World Theatre Day is celebrated every year on 27 March. The day was first celebrated in 1962, when the International Theatre Institute (ITI) expressed the need for theatre as an art form to be recognised and appreciated more, and brought closer to all people. Since then, every year theatre organisations around the world choose their prominent members who send messages highlighting the importance of theatre, but also the challenges that theatre and theatre workers face. And how else could the Croatian Bureau of Statistics mark that day than with interesting data about theatre. So, let’s get started!

„It was only in the theatre that I lived” - Sibyl Vane from Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray

Theatre has its roots in ancient Greece. Since theatre performances sometimes lasted for several days at that time, we can say that actors and the audience lived in the theatre. Today, of course, this is no longer the case, but for a theatre to function well, it must employ not only actors but also other workers. In Croatia in 2024[1], the total number of theatre employees was 3 044, of which more than half, or 52.7%, were artists. The total number of women employed in theatres was 1 561, of which 54.5% were artists. Ten years ago, this number was slightly lower. In the 2015/2016 season, the total number of theatre employees was 2 548, or 16.3% fewer than in 2024.
 
„Drama is life with the dull bits cut out” - Alfred Hitchcock

Although Hitchcock was referring to the film art in this statement, drama is also a form of a theatre play. Is going to the theatre an opportunity to watch interesting parts of real life from the comfort of your seat? If we look at the data, they show that in 2024, dramas, comedies, operas, ballets and other theatre plays were attended by 1.9 million visitors. This piece of data also reveals an increase in visits to theatres of 10.0% compared to the 2022/2023 season. Specifically, 1.7 million visitors were recorded then.

And what kind of plays were most watched? According to the 2024 data, 5 078 children’s plays were performed, which were attended by 601 754 visitors. They accounted for 32.0% of all visitors to theatre plays in Croatia in 2024. When talking about children's plays, we can recall the famous quote by George Bernard Shaw, who said that we don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. For comparison, comedies were attended by 530 900 (28%) visitors, and dramas by 265 194 (14%) visitors.
 
„The mission of the theatre, after all, is to change, to raise the consciousness of people to their human possibilities” - Arthur Miller

Theatre is a very important part of culture. It enriches, changes and fulfils our world. Therefore, it is important that theatre, as well as other cultural infrastructure, is accessible to as many people as possible and that it extends beyond the borders of urban centres. Out of a total of 159 theatres operating in Croatia in 2024, there were 35 amateur theatres.
 
The data from 2024 speaks of the importance of amateur theatres, especially in rural areas. They were visited by as many as 77% of all amateur theatre visitors in rural areas and smaller towns. Although theatre visitors from rural areas accounted for only 1% of all theatre visitors, the possibility of accessing cultural content in less populated areas is very important for the development of culture in Croatia.
 
We hope that we have encouraged you to visit the theatre these days and become part of our future culture statistics. And we wish all theatre artists and workers a happy World Theatre Day!

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