London’s National Theatre has had a record year at the box office. “The experiment of using sponsorship to slash ticket prices for half the seats in the largest auditorium throughout the summer paid dividends. Sceptics feared it would give regulars a cheap night out, but the season attracted 50,000 first timers. A third of those returned regularly, buying full-price tickets for other shows. Overall the National sold 750,000 tickets, an 11% rise on the previous year.”