to be seriously annoyed that dd's school are charging parents 4 quid PER ADULT to see our own children in the Christmas play?!!

[YeahBut]

And not even (as far as I can tell from the flyer) to raise money for charity. Actually, if they were raising money for charity, I'd prefer it if we were asked to make a contribution if possible when we went along.
I just think it's such a cheek and bordering on emotional blackmail! I'm hardly likely to turn round to dd and say, "Sorry dear, on principle I'm not coming along to see you in the play."

Obviously some slip through the net but because most of our kids come from homes where money is an issue they don;t really have a problem with coming forward and saying actually my mum can't afford that. We run the same system with our prom, we have a ticket fee but I would guess that only about half pay and the school pays for the rest. We have even had occasions where the school has paid for the prom ticket and staff have clubbed together to buy dresses.

My DD's private school (under 6K, evidently a bargain!) does not charge for nativity plays etc. Collection buckets are for charity - usually children's hospice.

xmas plays should be cheap and cheerful... same sheet+tinsel angels each year, etc. If they are having to charge to cover costs they've really lost the plot.

My school is a secondary school with a thriving Performing Arts department so sheets and tinsel angels does not quite do the children justice.

Considering that it can cost between £30-£50 (for a basic half hour nativity) to around £400 for a specially written schools musical up to £1,000 for a well known Annie/Oliver type show just for the rights to perform the sho, another £20-£100 for the rights to video not counting cotumes, lighting, sets etc. I don't think it is unreasonable for the school to cover their costs.

For some schools if these costs are not covered,the children don't get the chance to perform.

We get charged about 50p per adult (or it might be a £, i can't remember). The plays are done per year group, not per class, so there are about 60 kids, whom around 120 adults come to see, making the income about £60 (if it is 50p). There is also a crappy raffle where they charge £1 for a sheet of 5 tickets, and the prizes (all 3) are worth about £5 each. My school certainly doesn't put on a lavish production (although i'm sure the cardboard soldiers uniforms still need paying for!).
What does tick me off is that 2 thirds of the parents don't even get to see their kids on stage as there aren't enough parts to go round.

Secondary schools doing a 'proper' play are a different matter to junior nativities... I'm not sure which sort of thing the OP meant. If there are real costs for a performance then the money does have to come from somewhere. If its a fee-paying school then a realistic ticket price would probably be fairer than indirectly via fees charging everyone. I suppose the only alternative is special fundraising activities.