#TheCrushBarWrapped, a new email for paid supporters, and three festive favours...
Introducing Shouts And Murmurs, a new weekly missive for paid supporters of this newsletter. Plus: 2023 in numbers and three quick favours.
Hello, and welcome to The Crush Bar, a newsletter about theatre written by Fergus Morgan.
This is the last issue of 2023 and it contains a look back at this newsletter’s year in numbers, plus some exciting news about what is coming in 2024 - a brand new weekly email for paid supporters! - and three small favours that I’m hoping you will help me out with.
Before all that, though, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading The Crush Bar. This newsletter will turn three years old in January, and it means so much to me that people keep opening it, reading it, sharing it, and subscribing to it. So: thank-you very much.
Right, on with the last issue of the year: a look back, a look forward, and three quick requests.
The Crush Bar #Wrapped: the year in numbers.
There have been 46 issues of The Crush Bar in 2023 – 47 if you count this one – featuring 25 interviews, 17 essays, six VAULT Festival specials, 10 Edinburgh Fringe specials, and one Only Connect-themed quiz.
Those issues have covered a variety of topics, from the sublime symbolism of Just Stop Oil’s protest at Les Mis in October to the theatrical alternatives to spending £183.30 on a ticket to see Ivo Van Hove’s production of A Little Life.
They have included chats with composers, choreographers, companies, directors, designers, actors and many more multidisciplinary theatremakers, from Italian object manipulator Andrea Salustri to character comedian Rosalie Minnitt to experimental duo Emergency Chorus.
And those issues have recommended 139 different shows – 55 at the Edinburgh Fringe, 30 at VAULT Festival, and the rest at theatres across the country. I saw about 80 shows at the Edinburgh Fringe in August, and published a list of my top ten in this newsletter on August 25.
The most read issue of this newsletter this year – just – was that of November 3, which featured a bit on Matthew Perry’s West End play and the need for critical kindness, plus an interview with actor and writer Joe Eyre.
The most popular issue by open rate, though, was that of April 7, which featured a piece on the HBO series Succession and what it owes to subsidised theatre, plus a chat with writer Robert Boulton.
This newsletter has gained over 1000 subscribers this year. It started 2023 with 1377 subscribers, 11 of whom were signed up as paid supporters. Now it has 2402 subscribers, 31 of whom are signed up as paid supporters. There is a bit more about becoming a paid supporter below.
In total, this newsletter has been read over 96,000 times this year. If you have a look at the above chart, you can see that there are distinct periods of the year in which it was read a lot – during the Edinburgh Fringe, for example, when it got 25,000 views in two months – and other times when it is hardly read at all, mainly because I’ve been taking a break from publishing anything.
I make about £8/hour from writing, editing, publishing this newsletter, when you factor in the amount of money I make through paid supporters and promotional content, and the time each issue takes to put together. To be frank, that is not enough. My professional goal for 2024 is to get that figure closer to the real living wage of £12/hour. And to do that, I am going to be making a few changes in the new year…
Introducing Shouts And Murmurs, a new regular email for paid supporters of The Crush Bar.
I have occasionally tweaked this newsletter over the last three years. It started as fortnightly, long-form interviews, then became weekly chats, then arrived at its current format: a short feature, a short interview, and three shows to see. All that has always been free, and that is how it will stay.
In 2024, these regular issues – sent out on Friday mornings at 11.45-ish – will continue and they will stay free for everyone. There is not much point in shining a spotlight on emerging theatremakers and then putting them behind a paywall, after all.
In January, though, I am going to introduce a new, more informal email that will only be sent out to paid supporters. It is going to be called Shouts And Murmurs, it is going to be sent out on Tuesday mornings, and it is going to include…
a round-up of the week’s best - and worst - writing on theatre elsewhere
a look at the week’s theatre reviews from around the country
a weekly theatrical quiz/puzzle of some sort
any other interesting or fun theatrical bits I come across
If you are already a paid supporter of The Crush Bar, then you don’t need to do anything. You can sit tight and wait for the first edition of Shouts And Murmurs to arrive in your inbox in January.
If you would like to receive Shouts And Murmurs and are not yet a paid supporter, then you can become one via the button below. It costs either £5/month or £50/year - or a cup-and-a-half of coffee a month or a fairly crap West End theatre ticket a year.
And if you really, really, really want to get Shouts And Murmurs, but don’t think you can afford the monthly fee, then just let me know by replying to this email, and I can make that happen, no questions asked.
Three quick Christmas favours
Instead of recommending three shows to see in this final issue of 2023, I am going to ask you to do three favours for me instead…
Firstly, could you share this newsletter? If you enjoy reading The Crush Bar, it would be great if you could spread the word about it - either by sharing it on social media, or forwarding it to anyone you think might be interested. Go on. I’d really appreciate it if you tweeted about how great this newsletter is, or sent it on to someone you think might like it, too, and encouraged them to subscribe.
Secondly, would you let me know what you think of The Crush Bar? It really helps me to get some feedback - positive or constructive - on this newsletter, so I know what is working and what isn’t. If you have a minute, I would really love it if you replied to this email with what you like or do not like about The Crush Bar.
Thirdly, would you consider becoming a paid supporter? I can only keep publishing this newsletter - and writing about theatre in general, to be honest - if I figure out a way to make it sustainable. You can help massively with that by becoming a paid supporter. As explained above, this will now mean that you get one extra email per week - Shouts And Murmurs - with all sorts of extra content. If you want to sign up as a paid supporter to get those emails, you can do so below.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
That is it for this week - and this year, n fact. If you want to get in touch about anything raised in this issue - or anything at all, really - just reply to this newsletter or email me at fergusmorgan@hotmail.co.uk. Or you can find me on Twitter/X, where I am @FergusMorgan.
A quick reminder of the ways you can support The Crush Bar. You can share it. You can use it for promotional purposes. And you can support it. There are currently 2402 subscribers, 31 of whom are currently paid supporters. If you would like to join them, you can do so above.
Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. See you in 2024.
Fergus