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Dateline: 26th July, 2009
50,000 Less Ordinary Nights Almost 50,000 free theatre tickets have been taken up by young people under the A Night Less Ordinary scheme, Arts Council England has announced. A statement from ACE says that, between 16th February and 30th April, 48,160 (awaiting results from two theatres) free theatre tickets –– more than 4,000 a week for the first 12 weeks – were given away to under 26 year olds at over 200 theatre venues across the country. A Night Less Ordinary is an Arts Council England initiative supported by £2.5 million extra funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The initiative will provide 618,000 free theatre tickets for under 26 year olds in more than 200 venues across England, between February 2009 and March 2011. The scheme is being independently evaluated throughout its two year span and full details of the results – including regional breakdowns of figures and analysis of first time attendance – will be published on the Arts Council England web site. Barbara Matthews, Director of Theatre Strategy for Arts Council England said, "More than 200 venues across England have worked hard and with imagination to get A Night Less Ordinary off to this excellent start. It is fantastic to see the enthusiasm among young people for live theatre and that the scheme is already inspiring some great new initiatives. "But of course there is more to do. We’ll be working closely with all our A Night Less Ordinary venues to help them reach even more young people and to realise the full potential of the scheme to create the audiences of tomorrow." Some regional theatres, however, are sounding a cautionary note, with sources in some regions suggesting that, although the take-up is excellent, the actual attendance is considerably lower. One theatre, speaking off the record, reported that only 10% of those who got tickets actually turned up on the night and others - also off the record - reported similar figures.
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