The Sun newspaper recently ran an offer that enabled readers to see Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House in best seats for £12- something of a bargain since my local arthouse cinema is charging nearly £20 to see it on a screen by live link. This was one of many initiatives over the years by the Hamlyn Trust to encourage the less well off and the unconverted to enjoy ballet and opera- or to put it another way, break down these art forms’ elitist image. This is not dissimilar to the National Theatre’s £10 ticket offers.
I would love to know the level of success because my own experience is that these kind of offers tend to be taken up by existing fans happy to get a cheap ticket or by people willing to spend say £10 but not the normal price. Either way, the audience is not significantly increased.
I don’t doubt that price is an issue for many people considering attending ballet and opera but I don’t think it’s a case of saying, “Try it and then you’ll see it’s worth £50.” If people can afford those prices, the chances are they will give it a try when they’re ready.
Which leaves us with the intractable problem- how do you diversify the audience for the arts? Or to put it another way, how can you justify public subsidies for art forms that are only enjoyed by the well-off middle classes?
My suggestion is a national registration scheme that gives people a discount card if they can prove their income is below a certain level. For many this would simply mean showing that you are in receipt of some kind of benefit or family credit, for others it might mean providing proof of earnings. Then all subsidised art forms should be obliged to make 10% of their seats available at a realistically cheap price (compensated if necessary by raising the full prices) on a first come first served basis to those in possession of a discount card.
