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1m free tickets to lure young into theatres
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent23.09.08
£2.5 million free tickets scheme to get more young people into theatres is being unveiled today.
Nearly 100 venues including the National Theatre and Young Vic are set to take part in the initiative, which aims to tackle a decline in audiences among 18- to 26-year-olds.
A million tickets are set to be provided by March 2011.
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has devised the scheme as part of his department's bid to widen public access to the arts.
The Government has already introduced free admission to national museums and galleries and plans six hours of culture for children in schools every week.
Announcing details today, Mr Burnham will say: "Every venue manager knows that the hardest group to attract to theatre productions is young people after they've left home and before they settle down. But I believe they're missing out on a really fulfilling experience.
"Our aim is to offer young people a really first-class encounter, showing that theatre-going is a brilliant experience.
"This won't be about fobbing young people off with unsellable tickets for niche productions, nor will it cram the whole offer into a single frantic weekend."
The initiative will be launched in February and run for the next two years of the spending round - with a commitment to continue.
Venues taking part will have to guarantee free seats for young people across the whole two-year period on the same night each week. The commercial West End will not be included but theatres supported by the Arts Council and local authorities will.
The eventual aim will be to have similar ticket offers for dance, music and other art forms.
The inspiration for the scheme was a review by former Edinburgh International Festival boss Brian McMaster. He recommended publicly funded arts organisations should offer entire weeks of work free to attract new audiences.
This is a variation on that idea, after some organisations criticised it as impractical.
Reader views (8)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Good idea. Theatre is something Londoners should be proud of. Why not give young people who might not normally go to the theatre a chance to experience it. One good show and they'll be hooked.
- Derek, London
I'm retired, will this bunch of losers pay my ticket to the UK and then give me a ticket to the Theatre? No way and thank goodness. What a wate of taxpayers monies.
- Ayliff Mcnab, Spain
So struggling taxpayers are going to fund free theatre-tickets for twenty-somethings to sell on eBay... fantastic idea Grodon....
- Sean, London, UK
Government to bail out the West End?
I'm thinking of putting on a show, I'll send the culture secretary some tickets.
- Mike, Newbury UK
Labur stays in power by promoting the "something for nothing" culture - while the genuinely deserving are dismissed.
Just watch them get in again on these terms because no other party has yet sufficient conviction to stop them.
- Peter Seekings-Foster, Muildenhall, Suffolk
Firstly, they give free travel in the hopes that young people would go to museums. They didn't. All it gave them was freedom of the city to beat each other up and stab each other. This won't work either. They need to review ticket prices because it is not affordable even for my income as a secretary.
- Charlie, London
London burns while NuLabour fiddles ?
If the theatre prices were lower, and the productions better, then Taxpayers money wouldn't be needed to subsidise bad, expensive, theatre.
Why should the working Taxpayer suffer even more ?
- Cap, london, uk
Given the economic situation and the goverment's indebtness am I happy to see my tax being spent on this ???? NO!
- Jeremy E, London
