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.

Grayson Perry | Smash Hits | National Galleries of Scotland

I understand what you are saying but in fairness, children under 12 are free, 13-17 and the unemployed are a fiver and there is the National Art Pass scheme.
Students and those with disabilities pay £10.
I know I would have got my eldest at 17 to wrangle my other two and it would have cost £5 for three of them to see it and take photos for me. Alternatively my erstwhile partner and I would have drawn straws who had to go in with them

I do agree with you in principle but it wasn't a show that was £19 for each and every ticket. £38 for a family of five for example/2 adults and 3 kids under 12 is competitive with other places. That's not to say I don't still want a refund for the Pencil Museum in Keswick!

You moaned in your OP about £19, that is less than £20 that you're now saying you can pay?

It's like literally everything else, you buy the best of what you can afford with your budget. That does mean, you can't always have what you want.

£19 is not unreasonable.

They have to pay Grayson Perry, the electricity, insurance, staff wages etc etc etc and make a profit.

You aren't though. There are lots of things for free that Tha taxpayer subsidizes. They are free for everyone.

There are others who need subsidies and paid for tickets just to keep going. They are like M&S clothes when mist people can afford only Primark.

You can go to AmDram or school productions etc.

We wanted to see a theatre show that our daughter would have absolutely loved this summer. It would have been £180 for the 2 of us to attend for 1.5 hours + intermission. Way out of our price range. I see lots of people who say they got theatre tickets for £20 but I never seem to be able to find them! Our pantomime this year will be £35 each at our local theatre. We bought tickets earlier in the year but its still a lot for families to find.

I’ve never seen these prices either!

My DD loves the theatre but we’ve only ever been twice before because the seats are often over £40 each.

That’s at least £80 for just 2 people which is a weeks worth of food or 4 people going to a theme park for an entire day!

The theatre is definitely a luxury that most people can’t afford which is such a shame because most people will never get to see a west end show in their entire lives.

But I understand that they cost a lot to put on and people need to be paid, so I don’t know what the answer is.

I've paid £60 for a family of four to go see a show in London end of November 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm really not seeing the problem.
Not all people can have all things.

There are hundreds of free/low cost cultural activities available across the UK. So why single out the few that aren't - which pay for those that are.

Just looked and the Grayson Perry thing is £27.50 for the cheapest ticket at my local theatre - and I'm up north in a generally inexpensive area - so I think you're doing well with £19, OP.

OP - Sign up to Central Tickets, ShowFilmFirst (not just film) and check TodayTix

I mean £19 does sound like a subsidey and a bargain.

Friday rush, standing tix, restricted view. Every large theatre in my city has a programme for the less financially advantaged among us to get something.

It is £19 and others have substantial discounts,children,students etc I don't think it's inaccessible at all.

As a gift for working so hard in her GCSES DD chose to see 'a little life.' Not my cup of tea (she'd read the play several times so was pre-warned), but I bought two tickets and said if no one else wished to go I'd go with her. Thankfully, her aunt went with her (having also read it) but I paid for both tickets.
For a weekday matinée performance the tickets were (IIRC) £108 each. She said it was everything she hoped it would be but I was shocked it was so expensive. It probably cost close to £500 with travel and sundry expenses.

OP, you've said a number of times that your taxes are paying for cultural services and at the same time saying you're on a low income. Unless you're sitting on other wealth or paying high taxes elsewhere (council tax, road etc.) I'm not sure these two statements line up. Do you feel you're owed some tax credit theatre tokens?

Our collective taxes also have to pay for health care, education, social care, defence and so on. I agree that culture is important but I'm not quite sure what you're asking for in the round as a taxpayer...

There are plenty of ways to see shows cheaply. We are on low income, my girls haven't missed out on cultural experiences.

We've done the panto most years, this year has cost me £8 each as its in a smaller venue with no big stars. The equivalent one in the big theatre is £40 each.

We have done free tickets to the ballet (dd1 hated it, but have taken dd2 every year since. Cost me £25 for us both each year since)

I love live music, I can't afford the big name artists these days so have been to several tribute nights. Fantastic fun, cost under £10 a ticket, no getting stuck trying to get out of a stadium and no expensive drinks! Can't wait until dd2 is old enough to come with, shes desperate to go to the Queen and Bowie tribute acts.

I took my daughters to see Wicked in London this year, I bought tickets during London theatre week, restricted view (which actually was fine) for £25 each. Train tickets bought 12 weeks in advance for £11 for the 3 of us. It can be done if you are willing to wait and look out for deals.

There's so many free or cheap museums, galleries to visit. Or you can find 2 for 1 tickets, some places do free open days. We went to a local attraction on their free day this year, its usually around £20 a ticket.

You have to make the most of the little things in life. Yes it would be nice to go to the expensive art exhibition, but it can be equally fun and fulfilling visiting the smaller less well known artists.

For that particular exhibition there are a whole raft of concession prices.

This is such a pointless argument. Why should shows/events have to run at a loss to be "inclusive"? Taylor Swift tickets were £100 and sold out in seconds. Want to see Manchester Utd play Galatasaray on 3 Oct? Cheapest ticket is £80. You'll pay £50 at least for decent seats at a West End Musical. A day pass ticket to Alton Towers is £35.

Are these private businesses not being "inclusive" either. Boo hoo, I can't afford a first class ticket to New York. The airlines are failing me by not being "inclusive". 🙄

It's not really the fault of theatres, just the way things are going. Life is expensive. I remember going to the theatre and ballet a couple of times a year as a child but I couldn't afford to do it now with my family even though we're probably better off than my parents were. Likewise cinema, out for nice meals etc they are occasional treats.

Unfortunately traveling exhibitions can be seen as a bit of a cash cow for some museums and galleries. This is not usually the actual museum/ galleries management fault but the much much higher ups who justified their employment by bean counting.

I used to work for a local museum who hosted travelling exhibitions. There is supposed to be a level of access for everyone and those on lower incomes are often the target group to engage with. Good museum management know this and come up with ways to try and attract lower income visitors. Our museum used to do family fun days either at the weekend or in the school holidays which co-ordinated with the exhibition. These days would have a little free talk or mini show, some craft activities for a nominal charge, a kids workshop/ adult led activity for a small nominal charge (adult led activity was an hr long and adults were allowed to bring a drink in with them and sit at the side of the room), access to the usual outdoor play area and museum and often a kids film showing at something like 2.30pm in a room. These days always went down a storm and as there was so much on people were able to make a day of it and justify the ticket price to the exhibition. Cafe sales, shop sales, donations were always brilliant on these days.

Unfortunately we were due a larger travelling exhibition and the big higher up who we had never seen decided to attend the planning meeting that everyone who worked at the museum was having. Their contribution was, "people pay at least £3 for a coffee nowadays so we should be charging at least £3 for everything" basically to attend the talk would be £3 a person, to do an activity should be at least £6 per person, the kids film should be chargeable, the travelling exhibition should be charged in accordance with the fact the customer hasn't had to buy a train ticket or pay for fuel to go to its usual location - he priced this as at least £20 instead of the £8 that the museum management had proposed. No-one was allowed to question this individual as they were the big big boss and knew best. The exhibition was an absolute flop. Big boss congratulated himself on the fact he had brought the travelling exhibition but was utterly baffled why no one came and it was obviously the museum advertising and all the "poor" people who do not value culture.

Since when has the theatre and art been for poor people? They've never wanted them unless they can have a delightfully abrasive pet to patronise.

I've been to three theatre/ballet in London with standing tickets a few times and I don't remember if costing more than £5-10 so I do feel like there's some provision for lower income. I've also seem some smaller theatres that offer cheaper tickets to people on benefits.

£19 is not a lot.

I too should be able to see the odd theatre show or ballet that my taxes also help pay towards.

You don’t in any way sustain private, commercial theatre buildings or production companies with your tax contributions OP. Look on the positive side, your tax does indirectly support community arts initiatives across Scotland, that survive on tiny budgets, who are constantly in a state of seeking grants and funding to keep going.

Support your local Arts, especially community theatre and this feeds into the wider Arts scene across Scotland and the rest of the U.K. especially when it supports local performers to progress in their careers, which is a huge challenge for those unable to rely on family financial support, no matter how talented they might be.

For some people anything like this is out of budget but...

How many of the following would you do without thinking about the cost:
Cinema
Theme park
Foreign holiday
TV subscription
etc.

We choose not to have a foreign holiday and do a cheap self catering one because we choose to spend that money on going to the theatre, because we all enjoy that. We'll look out for special offers, and last minute deals and sit up in the gods etc so we can afford to do the shows we want.

With cinema costing around a tenner per person (without snacks) I think theatre trips for £20 with a whole cast to pay as well as infrastructure is really good value. I’m at a loss as to what you think you SHOULD be paying for two plus hours of live entertainment?

Shakespeares plays were written for the working classes. So since forever.