In Great Britain in 1940, under the threat of imminent invasion in World War II, the government took the first steps toward subsidizing theatre by guaranteeing a tour of the Old Vic Theatre against loss. Subsequently, with the establishment of the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, its support of theatre increased continually. By the last quarter of the 20th century many millions of pounds were committed each year to supporting a network of regional theatres, small touring groups, so-called fringe theatres, and the "centres of excellence," meaning the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, English National Opera, and opera at Covent Garden. Subsidy in Britain was the means by which the British theatre industry became the strongest in the world, both as a significant export and as a chief tourist attraction.
Until the middle of the 20th century, private patronage was still the sole support of legitimate theatre in the United States, but eventually charitable support was encouraged by a structure of tax allowances and by philanthropic organizations such as the Ford Foundation. With few exceptions, however, professional theatre in the United States remained strictly a commercial business. Nonprofit regional theatres gradually created an alternative to Broadway, but while the regional theatres have established faithful and discerning audiences, the record of the commercial theatre has been blotted by numerous instances of greed and irresponsibility and an absence of a longer view than immediate personal advantage. Unions have sometimes pressed demands that have made professional theatrical production economically difficult.
