Christopher Gray looks at how theatres are attracting younger audiences

The theatre is a very good place to be for a gentleman of my age — which is to say 62. This is because the sight of so many even older people all around can make one feel positively . . . well, youthful.

The disinclination of youngsters to see plays has a lot to do with the price of tickets. It must be worrying for those in theatre management, though, as they ponder how to build the audiences of tomorrow.

Not the least commendable feature of the London season staged by the Michael Grandage Company — I review the last production, Henry V, in Weekend today — has been a determined effort to attract young people.

This was done partly through stellar casting, with actors likely to appeal to people more at home with television and cinema. These included Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, who gave a cracking performance in The Cripple of Inishmaan, and David Walliams, who was an excellent Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The other incentive was cut-price tickets, with 100,000 on sale at just £10.

I am delighted to say that the plan has worked brilliantly. As director Grandage writes in a programme note for Henry V: “We are delighted to report that 30 per cent of our audience have been first time bookers. We also launched MGC Futures, a new initiative that gives young people crucial access to understanding all the opportunities that are available in the theatre. In addition we have had training schemes for directors and designers and a youth theatre that has met every week.”

Grandage deserves a medal.