The occasional "pay what you can" performance is not uncommon in modern theatre but Stockton's ARC is trying a new venture in their spring season: Pay What You Decide, which means customers won’t have to pay until after they have seen a show.
The venue wants to encourage more people to see shows at ARC, more often. Pay What You Decide not only allows customers to pay what they can afford, rather than a fixed ticket price, but also removes the financial risk of buying a ticket for a show in advance without knowing whether they are going to enjoy it or not.
Tickets will be available to book in advance as usual, but there is no obligation for customers to pay until after they have seen the show. They can then decide on a price which they think is suitable based on their experience, which means that if they haven’t enjoyed it at all, they don’t have to pay anything.
All money collected will help ARC pay the artists who have performed, and so they hope customers will give generously.
At each performance, tickets will need to be shown to the usher fifteen minutes before the show starts in order to secure seats. Then, at the end, customers can decide what to pay, with the option to pay by cash on the door as they exit or by card at the box office.