In the cool and positively gloomy light of the current financial forecast, the government are considering relaxing the "fiscal rules" that had shaped economic management since Brown invented them in 1997.

With the tightening credit crunch, plummeting house prices and an economic recession hanging in the air, the financial forecast looks gloomy at best. However, contrary to popular belief, a new survey suggests that the entertainment sector may be about to buck the greying trend.

Barely a day goes by without either Andrew Lloyd Webber or Cameron Mackintosh announcing further proof that their recent string of television shows have bumped up theatre audience figures all over the country. In the wake of inflation and the credit crunch however, we may have to ask: just how long will our love affair with the West End last?