Theatre and art shows are pricing lower income people out

[buttermuffintin]

Looking at theatre tickets and they are just so expensive these days to the point where we just don't go. We are a working class couple / family but enjoy seeing the odd play or even ballet but these days the tickets are just out of people like ours price range. In the past it felt like we could go to see something like this the odd time maybe a couple of times a year as a treat and maybe even have a meal out (something we rarely can afford) but these days it is just out of the question, which is depressing when we can't afford any sort of holiday or trips.

I also was looking at tickets for the Grayson Perry show in Edinburgh but it is £19 per person! I am grateful that we can afford food, heat and a roof over our heads but just because we are working class doesn't mean we don't enjoy some culture to enrich our lives now and then. It just feels like we are always priced out now.

I do understand that Theatre, the arts in general and hospitality suffered during the pandemic but surely the answer isn't to completely price lower income people out.

Just looking at your example OP for Grayson Perry, I can see a £5 ticket for Unemployed/supported income, carers tickets for free, children under 12 for free, teenagers for £5, visitors with disabilities £10, student £10, oap £17 - I think they've done as much as they possibly could to avoid pricing peoples out?

Grayson Perry is already very wealthy, I'm not opposed to him making some money but he makes shows about the diversity of the people in the UK, the different classes, he will also have had public money to support his career when starting out. However I doubt it is him setting the price to his exhibition though, it will be the National who do get public funding. If you can afford £19 for a ticket then great but you must realise that many people can't and that its very questionable for a publicly funded body to price a whole class of people out.

I contacted them about the discounts, I don't qualify. I am not unemployed, I am low income.

it's never been common for lower income people to go
In Elizabethan times, you could be a groundling or a "penny stinkard".

Like a pp, I'd rather have an NHS dentist though.

Edinburgh had Free Fringe this Summer.

Also, and I know it's not quite the same but National Theatre have National Theatre at home where you can pay a monthly subscription and cancel at any time. So I saw Prima Facie, Much Ado and Yerma in a month for £9.99.
Kids just need popcorn tbh.
National Theatre also do National Theatre for schools streaming. Dark room, donuts, culture capital right there.
Talking of - to those of you reading - Mark Gatiss's fantastic production of A Christmas Carol is still on BBC iplayer: if you have GCSE kiddies, make them a brew, give them a biccie and urge them to see it as part of their revision.

That is a steal, I don't see those prices at all.

Ah that's a shame OP, but I do think you had to admit they've had a fair crack at making it open to all? I guess they can't be assessing people's income to be nth degree.

Receiving some public funding doesn't mean they are obligated or able to provide everything for free.

Are you expecting Grayson Perry to let you in for free? .scottish /brittish .museums and the national gallery is free to get in for actual £0!the touring are down to the individual artist/company maybe lobby them

Are there other things you could drop that would enable you to pay for tickets. Do you have take aways ? Do you have any streaming services? Do you have phones that aren't sim only? Do you or your partner smoke / have a couple of bottles of wine each week.
We don't have any of these things so we can go to the theatre, exhibitions etc. We went to Grayson Perry as part of a trip to the Edinburgh Festival. Its a beautiful exhibition.

It also looks as though the National Gallery is free entry (other than for specific exhibitions), so presumably that’s where most / all of the public funding goes.

What I think is that it isn't fair, I do pay tax which goes towards these things and yet I am excluded from them. They should have lower priced tickets and all the rich people can pay extra in a donation if they can afford £19.

So you're near ggow? Go to kelvingrove? 2 current FREE exhibitions!

tickets start at £13 here, obviously they are up really high and uncomfortable but cheap, far cheaper than say a football match.

Art galleries are often free or have free evenings, I've rarely paid.

Opera and ballet have last minute discounted tickets eg i went to the opera 18 months ago for £10 but it was queue on the day and you don't know where you will be, I got a seat in the dress circle that would have been £145, dp was a level up in the £90 seats and dd (love her) was in the standing area for students, she paid £8.

Whilst it's not the same as seeing it live, there are a few options to subscribe to on demand filmed theatre shows that you can watch at home.

We have theatres nights at home because the nearest decent theatre is too far away. Lights out, set time to start, some snacks, if you need a wee, you have to sneak out the room quietly.

It's not the same. But it's also a great way to see performances you wouldn't otherwise get to see - through cost or logistics.

We don't smoke or drink at all and we also don't eat any meat, fish or chicken and rarely have streaming services, we have disney + now for the kids as it is £1.99 for the next 3 months (That is £5.97 total for three months) but we will cancel it before full price kicks in. We have had the same phones for years now, mine with a cracked screen but I can't afford a new one and won't take an expensive contract.

I think £19 is very reasonable and I'm quite poor!
I remember taking my children to see A Christmas Carol at the theatre in a midlands town 25 years ago and it was £15 each. I saved up for ages.

An Am Dram society near me does an annual ticket for £42 which allows you to see all of their shows (6-8 a year). They do all sorts, from Macbeth to Grease. Those tickets are very easy to get hold of. Like everything in life, you get what you can afford.
Also, your taxes pay a teeny tiny amount towards the Arts Council, a lot of it is funded by the National Lottery.

I do see what you are saying and we did enjoy the free streaming plays during lockdowns, and yes we did donate what we could. I think it is the principle of it as well though, that lower income people shouldn't be priced out of culture like ballet and opera for example but we mostly are.

It's £19 for a 30 min slot at a gallery to see an art show, the theatre tickets are double or more than that.

Not at all I'd be happy to pay £8 or £10 a person.

The 30 min slot is normally the entrance time? I may be wrong as I haven’t been to this exhibition, but you can normally stay as long as you like once you are in!

That's not true. Go back 60 years at Glasgow's many theatres were full of working class people every weekend.

I think given the price and demand, there isn't a shortage of trying to sell the tickets. I honestly find this country to be one of the most accommodating with all the free stuff that's on offer. Loads and loads of free stuff.

I get your point OP
As a family of four we visit lots of galleries and museums and have annual Memberships for things like London Zoo, Historic Royal Palaces and others as these are value for money for us as we use them several times a year
We also have Blue Peter badges for the kids so lots of attractions are cheaper for us
But we can't justify theatre costs - I looked at Lion King for us over Christmas hols and for us all sit without restricted view we'd be looking at £300. Stalls seats are over £200 each. No way could we justify £800 on tickets for a show.

@buttermuffintin We were in that exhibition for a long time. Once you are in you can stay for as long as you want. It really is worth £19.