THE culture buffs of Glasgow, or anywhere else in Scotland, are
unlikely to have to pay more to appreciate the performing arts, despite
the findings of a report which claims that most people attending the
theatre would pay more for their seats.
Delegates at a conference in the city yesterday, on current thinking
about pricing for performing arts events, were told a study on ticket
pricing found that most people attending the theatre -- be it for drama,
opera, or ballet -- were willing to pay more for their entertainment.
Apart from leaving the arts world wondering just which punters said
they would willingly shell out more for a good night out, theatre
establishments in the city were largely unmoved by the revelation that
there are untapped seams of funding in the front stalls of each
performance.
Scottish Ballet -- which has actually enacted a price freeze on its
shows for the past two years -- did not want to be seen leading the
charge to extract more funding from their audiences. At up to #27.50 a
fling (or is that pirouette?) they might be accused of having a brass
neck if they tried.
The #27.50 tag is, of course, for ''absolutely the best seats in the
house'', said public relations officer Jim Fletcher, the house more
often than not being the Theatre Royal.
Concessions are available for all shows and Mr Fletcher knew of no
plans to increase prices. He said: ''We are constantly extending our
performances to include all sections of the community. Midweek matinees,
which are no lesser a performance, are only #5 for any seat. A family
could afford the royal box for that.''
Scottish Opera -- perhaps already sensitive to charges of elitism when
it comes to prices and audience figures -- went on the defensive when
the subject was raised.
The opera company, which received an Arts Council grant of more than
#4.3m this year (about 21% of all SAC grant funding), said its prices
were already set at a realistic level.
Tickets for a night at the opera, in the Theatre Royal, Glasgow,
average at about #16 a seat, with #38 being the going rate for the best
in the house.
''Will they pay more? I suppose that depends on what how much money
they have in their pocket,'' said an official. ''People pay these prices
because they expect a quality show. And you can get seats for #3.50 just
by phoning in advance. It costs more than that to go to a multiplex
cinema.''
It might be hard to believe, but Scottish audiences really get opera
on the cheap, especially when prices are compared to London venues.
For example, a seat for a November showing of Strauss's Die Frau Ohne
Schatten in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, comes in at #43.70 --
for a seat in the gods. Tickets for special performances can go up to
#250, depending on who is doing the singing.
Such charges -- often leading to accusations of high art, high prices
and snobbery -- are unlikely to be levelled at that citadel of
accessible pricing, the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow. An official said
its thinking was unlikely to be affected by the findings of any report
which said the theatre could make money by charging more.
Over half the audiences attending plays at the theatre in the Gorbals
qualify for concessionary #2 tickets, and #6 secures any seat in the
house. ''If the whole allocation of seats was taken up by concession
tickets we wouldn't mind,'' said the Citizens' press office.
''The management sees seat pricing as an integral part of the whole
theatre. By keeping prices low we can maximise the number of people
benefiting from subsidised theatre. It's all about access.''
The Scottish Arts Council's director of planning, Christine Hamilton,
one of the conference organisers, said that increasing prices for seats
was only one method of maximising income.
She said: ''We have to look at the role concesssionary schemes play in
attracting new audiences and those who already think tickets are too
expensive, or cannot afford more.''
She added: ''With the imminent introduction of competitive tendering
for local authority theatres and concert halls, council arts departments
have to ask themselves if they are doing enough to maximise their income
and if they are ready to compete against private sector operators.''
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