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Affordable TicketsDateline: 10th April, 2005There's an interesting article in the New York Observer in which arts journalist John Heilpern praises Peter Brook to the skies, not just for his innovative work in theatre and, in particular, his latest work Tierno Bokar, but - and this is the main thrust of his article - Brook's insistence on keeping ticket prices low. "Mr. Brook is saying, in urgent effect," he writes, "if so many people can no longer afford to go to the theater, what’s the point of theater?" It's a very valid point, and Heilpern goes on to say that "In terms of both ticket prices and productions, it’s actually getting harder and harder to tell the difference between nonprofit and commercial theater." He dismisses Broadway, which he describes as "opportunistic" but he also attacks the not-for-profit sector, instancing prices as high as $91.25. He compares the state of things in New York with London and praises the National's Travelex £10 season, about which he says, "Revenue has increased, a new young audience has been found. The place is alive." Of course what he doesn't mention - and perhaps doesn't realise - is that the Travelex £10 season is only possible because of Travelex' heavy subsidy, and this is the problem. We can apply his conclusions about the majority of the theatre-going public, even in the non-profits, being white, middle-class and aging to the UK, too. "The unpalatable truth," he says, "is that an entire movie-going generation of New Yorkers has grown up believing that theater is out of reach, unaffordable, elitist and half-dead." Regrettably that is true of much of the UK too, although it has to be said that this is sometimes the result of perception rather than fact. There are brave attempts to bring new audiences into theatre. Places like BAC and and a number of other London off-West End venues have a policy of "Pay what you can" on some nights, but once you move into the mainstream- and here I'm talking about the major regional theatres rather than the West End - even the concessionary prices for young people, the unemployed and so on, are high. Not, admittedly, as high as those in the New York non-profit sector which Heilpern mentions, but still not easily affordable to those on limited incomes. There is no doubt that ticket prices favour the older generation, if only because they have more disposable income. I know that people in their late teens and early twenties probably do, too, but that reduces as they get married (or live together), get mortgages, have kids, and so on. Some, of course, do go to the theatre as often as they can, often making sacrifices to do so, but these tend to be the people who have been "converted" during their school or college years. And they will be the sort of people who will take up offers like the Pay What You Cans and Travelex £10. The problem is trying to reach the rest, but the difficulty is that their perception is that theatre is for the middle aged and older middle classes. A quick glance at the audiences of most mainstream theatres would give that impression. There are young people in these audiences, there is no doubt of that, but they are a minority. And so it becomes a vicious circle and the (inaccurate) perception is reinforced. I don't know what the answer is, or even if there is an answer, but affordable ticket prices have to be a start!
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