{"id":971,"date":"2013-07-31T08:53:35","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T15:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=971"},"modified":"2013-07-31T08:53:35","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T15:53:35","slug":"taking-price-discrimination-to-the-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/07\/taking-price-discrimination-to-the-limits\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking price discrimination to the limits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"When<\/a>The Guardian<\/em> reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n

While the high price of theatre tickets is well known, it still comes as a surprise to discover that some members of the audience for\u00a0Arrivals & Departures<\/a>, the latest play by\u00a0Alan Ayckbourn<\/a>, may have paid \u00a31,500 for the privilege. This\u00a0is the price of the ultimate luxury package on offer from the Stephen Joseph theatre in Scarborough; there are others on offer for \u00a3750. The \u00a31,500 ticket involves access to rehearsals, backstage tours, Q and A sessions with\u00a0Ayckbourn, as well as a seat at the\u00a0finished play, about a blundering army unit trying to catch a terrorist at a\u00a0railway station.<\/p>\n

The theatre says the move was driven by economic necessity. Following cumulative cuts in subsidy of 18% in recent years, it makes sense to seek a greater contribution to the box office from those who might be able to pay it. The Production Syndicate, as this scheme is called, has so far raised more than \u00a330,000. Even so, the result is that, at some performances, the amounts paid by different members of the audience will vary from \u00a313 (the cheapest concession) to \u00a31,500. This is even more than the difference between economy and first class on an aeroplane.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The theatre might have said this was driven by economic necessity, but why wait for that? Arts presenters offer an experience for which the willingness-to-pay for luxury extras is going to vary quite widely. The very rich value experiences beyond the ordinary. If a museum or theatre or orchestra can offer such an experience, at reasonably low marginal cost (it does not require a major investment to allow a few rich patrons into rehearsals, or to give them a tour backstage), then why not? These funds allow the company to keep other prices in check, and to have unrestricted funding for productions or other activities (say, outreach into schools, for example).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Guardian reports: While the high price of theatre tickets is well known, it still comes as a surprise to discover that some members of the audience for\u00a0Arrivals & Departures, the latest play by\u00a0Alan Ayckbourn, may have paid \u00a31,500 for the privilege. This\u00a0is the price of the ultimate luxury package on offer from the Stephen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-issues","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-fF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3779,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/04\/on-the-hidden-economics-of-live-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":971,"position":0},"title":"On the hidden economics of live theatre","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Freakonomics Radio has a new three part series on the economic landscape facing live theatre. Part One is here, and part two is here, which as a supporting act in an episode with Lin-Manuel Miranda, has me trying to coherently explain cost disease in the theatre, where it comes from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3794,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/04\/even-more-on-the-economics-of-live-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":971,"position":1},"title":"Even more on the economics of live theatre","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Freakonomics series on the economics of live theatre continues with this third and final episode, in which I talk about its value - no, not economic value: all the other kinds... https:\/\/freakonomics.com\/podcast\/will-3-summers-of-lincoln-make-it-to-broadway\/","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1310,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/05\/why-tax-breaks-for-commercial-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":971,"position":2},"title":"Why tax breaks for commercial theatre?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Stage reports (and I repost the story in full here): Tax breaks for the theatre industry to be introduced this autumn could bring in \u00a3100 million for commercial theatre and \u00a320 million for touring productions in coming years, Arts Council England\u2019s chair PeterBazalgette has said. He said the initiative\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"coherent arts policy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Pound-Sterling-Progress.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1812,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/02\/pay-what-you-decide-at-the-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":971,"position":3},"title":"Pay-what-you-decide at the theatre","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Stage News reports on a trial run of pay-what-you-decide pricing at the regional theatre in Stockton, UK: The Pay What You Decide system is now in effect for all theatre productions at the arts centre for six months, following a trial on a one-man show at the venue. Too\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"time","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/The_Persistence_of_Memory-300x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2078,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/08\/on-proper-attire-for-attending-the-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":971,"position":4},"title":"On proper attire for attending the theatre","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"August 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We have links to two stories today, Elisabeth Vincentelli asking that people try a little harder to look decent when they attend the theatre, much as they might be comfortable in their cargo pants and their Black Sabbath 1982 Mob Rules tour official t-shirt, and Alexis Kleinman in rebuttal -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"you don't have to be rich","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/dressed-up.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/dressed-up.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/dressed-up.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1289,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/05\/does-theatre-make-you-happy\/","url_meta":{"origin":971,"position":5},"title":"Does theatre make you happy?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Stage reports: \"Study finds attending plays feels as good as a pay rise\". The study was carried out at the LSE, funded by the UK Department for Culture Media & Sport. The research paper itself is an excellent piece, well-placed in the current scholarly literature on determinants of (self-reported)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"I feel like a million dollars!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/laugh460.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}