Twenty two million people visit the theatre in London every year – almost twice the number of people who attend a Premier League football match (for the few Americans not in the know, this refers to soccer, not American football!).

You would never believe this if you paid attention to the media. Pages in papers and hours on TV are spent mulling over the transfer of some Italian player to some English club or other. Meanwhile, miracle of miracles, crowds are visiting theaters and are hopefully being presented with life’s issues in clever and subtle ways. Theatre makes you ponder matters that you normally have little time to ponder. It takes you away from your day-to-day concerns to wonder at the psychology and humour of a play and the skill of the actors. Ah, humour! We need it so desperately!