“In the biggest survey of its kind, conducted by the Office of National Statistics for the Arts Council of England, it has emerged that participation and appreciation of the arts are more popular than sport and are widely indulged in across the social spectrum… While the public appetite for books is not so much of a surprise – three quarters of interviewees listed this as a feature of their spare time – the keen edge of our hunger for theatre, both live and on television, is a revelation.”