Share your unpopular opinions here!

Jun 17, 2016 17:23:42 GMT Hana PlaysAndParasols said:

I am not sure if I'll be able to catch this as I am turning 26 in November. But it totally caught my attention and I can inform you that I have never seen Henry IV (seen Julius Caesar in a different country about 6 years ago), never seen a Donmar production and don't know Phyllida Lloyd. So I don't know what you're implying here..?

I think the inherent fault in a scheme like this is that it doesn’t get new theatregoers in, it only gets the same theatregoers going. My friends who don’t think they can afford theatre, my friends who can afford cheap theatre but still think theatre’s for the elites, my friends away from London who’d have to pay an extortionate train fare anyway – they don’t get to see these despite the free tickets, and in some cases can't afford to go due to travel anyway. If the Donmar was truly committed to broadening audiences, this pop-up theatre would go on tour, would discount based on finance not age, and would send adverts out to the non-theatre circles so they were aware of these productions and their freebies. Instead, the same regular young faces will go see this – perhaps the free tickets will allow a greater number of financially constrained young faces, but as I say, I’m under 25 and can afford a lot of theatre, where plenty of over 25s I know can’t, and my inner milquetoast socialist, my inner Ken Loach, thinks it’s unfair that I get a free ticket based on my age and they have to pay despite their income.

I was exaggerating a little when I was banging on about having seen these before, but only a little. I saw Julius Caesar for £7.50 (day seat) and Henry IV for £10 (Barclays), both on non-age-related schemes, and I think the people who’ll mostly be excited about that are people like me, lucky enough to have seen the earlier shows, and people like you, members of Theatreboard who love their theatre. Of the free-ticket users, a minority will have seen the other Lloyd productions already, a fair number will have seen these plays in some form already, and the majority will see Shakespeare on a regular basis. This doesn’t do anything to entice new theatregoers, only keep enticing the existing regulars.

Got to say, though, book the free tickets now before you’re 26, if you go after your birthday play ignorant and pretend you’d forgotten, and just go, because Julius Caesar and Henry IV were riveting, haunting, thrilling productions and you really, really should see them! When you go, though, ask the people around you whether they’d ever been to the theatre before or regularly went, and the answer will be a depressingly frequent “All the time!”

Jun 17, 2016 19:27:22 GMT Hana PlaysAndParasols said:

You're probably right that people who don't go to theatre at all won't get to know about this (/maybe won't be interested anyway). I don't know in what ways they're promoting it or not so I'm not judging that. The idea of deciding based on the actual wealth of the person sounds fair but also very unrealistic - how would you prove that? You mentioned jobseekers or people from certain districts - not sure how reliable that criterion would be. That could also rule out students or perhaps at least foreign students - and while I realize that is another potentially controversial debate, I don't think closing up is a good idea. So yes while such schemes would be valuable, so are the young people ones I believe.

It might not be people who don't go to theatre at all, but maybe some who have seen something more commercial, saved up to see their favourite performer or musical and wouldn't do so to just branch out and try something new; it might open them up to a totally new way of staging plays.
I am of course looking at it from a very selfish point of view: these schemes benefit me so I like them, haha. I go to theatre a lot, I have studied it and want to pursue a career in it: but only these schemes, day seats etc. allow me to do so in London as well, where it truly inspires me (in my country theatre is perhaps 5 times cheaper, but also a bit rubbish). So yes you definitely do have a point and this scheme doesn't solve everything, but when I remember the stage when I was only discovering the world of theatre and it was bringing me so much, I think yes please, give that chance to other people as well.

Haha thanks for the tip, might need to try it then, if it's really so good :-)

EDIT: Looking back at this I realize I must seem exactly like the annoying "all the time" kind of person...but it's not like I had the money and spent it in a pub instead, basically all my money goes to discovering British theatre. I can clearly remember the phase before I studied it when I was starting to go to theatre as a teenager because it only cost about the equivalent of 2 pounds, those are the people I think it is great for.

Trust me, you’re not being selfish or annoying – I don’t think anyone here will judge anyone else for wanting to see more theatre, quite the opposite! Besides, I think schemes like Entry Pass are essential a) for our finances and b) for sending a message to young people that theatre is accessible, and I never meant to say they should be scrapped. I agree with xanderl, though, I think they tend to be flawed and have no suitable follow-up for 25 and older. As my time with the cheap tickets draws to an end (less the chimes at midnight, more the chimes at brunch), I’ve started thinking about how the theatre could open up past 24, less for existing theatregoers and more for people who don’t catch the theatre bug so young, or can’t afford to.

With the income thing, I know it’s unrealistic, but there are ways around it. Some theatres have a “Pay What You Can” Scheme (I know the Arcola does, and some cinemas do too). It’s probably a scheme that’s easy to abuse if you’re a selfish cheapskate, but on the other hand it’s also a nice scheme for allowing people without the money to get to the theatre. The West End needs something like this which is open to all ages: less well-off Londoners, perhaps people with hefty travel bills, and students and young people. Alongside Entry Pass-esque ideas, this sends the message that theatre really isn’t just for the rich or the in-the-know, it’s for anyone who wants to find it.

In my theatrical utopia, I’d keep student and under 25 schemes more for the message they send out (Phantom, they’re not entitlement, they’re encouragement, unless they’re taken too far), but I’d also have these pay as you go schemes, also day seats for everyone, and hopefully make money back through full price ones. I’d hire economists and sociologists to tackle these issues practically. I know what I said was unrealistic, but I’m an idealist. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. With enough cheap tickets for the financially needy of all ages (but nothing free, making theatre free literally devalues it), I’d hopefully have an audience that’s broad, enthusiastic, curious, willing to learn, and ultimately passionate about theatre, and that’s what we want.

I mean, there are also dozens of other issues which stop young and old getting into theatre – lack of decent touring, blogging (self-funding criticism with limited travel funds) making the regions under-represented, the London-centric financial irony of free seats in the third most expensive place to live in the world – but I read about schemes to lure new audiences in, all schemes focused on the young and all schemes focused on money, and I just think “NO! These won’t work! It’s more than money! Don’t lure the young in, lure people in! And keep them there!”