You Should Not Have To Pay Hundreds of Dollars To See a Play

Do you want to see Denzel Washington play Othello? Don’t we all? One of the greatest actors of all time is playing one of the most famous roles in Shakespeare’s canon, and he’s doing it on the Broadway stage alongside Jake Gyllenhaal as Iago. It’s the Grand National of acting. But is it worth $921?

The cost of seeing Othello has almost overshadowed the production itself (which has received mixed-to-negative reviews.) There’s a genuine sense of shock that it’s so upsettingly expensive to see a Broadway show. As this story unfolded, it was revealed that audiences were forking over similarly big cheques to see the latest revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, starring Oscar and Emmy winner Kieran Culkin. While those willing to risk it on acquiring day-of tickets can save a lot of money, it’s become abundantly clear that the ceiling for acceptable maximum costs of the theatre has risen once more.

We hear the same arguments repeatedly as to why the theatre — and everything else, really — has gotten so costly. Inflation hits us all. It’s pricey to put on a live show. The vast majority of Broadway productions fail to break even, so these limited runs with A-Listers need to maximize their profits as much as possible. Plus theatre is not an experience that can be easily duplicated (largely because most producers sit out doing proshots of their shows for as long as possible, if they allow it at all.) It’s scarce, so we’re told. You’ve only got about four months to see Othello, so you can’t waste time or hesitate. Won’t you feel like a sucker if you miss out?

Broadway, in particular, has been on this upward slope for decades. It was considered shocking when the smash-hit musical version of The Producers had tickets priced at $100 at the beginning of the century. Now, that’s the cheapest option for many of the major New York City theatres. For many people, Broadway is a tourist’s game, and it’s already so damn expensive to get to America so of course they’ll shell out for that special experience. It’s once in a lifetime.

There’s this still-prevailing idea that theatre in the 21st century is not for the masses. It’s an elite activity, like the opera or tax evasion. Historically, this is obviously not the case. Shakespeare wrote sex jokes for working-class audiences. Acting troupes travelled the land and put on productions for small towns of all kinds. To this day, many companies and theatres focus on telling stories of marginalized voices, with accessible ticket prices and support for schools. But such subsidies are usually the first thing thrown into the trash when governments start making cuts in the name of saving a few pennies (or launching concerted ‘culture war’ attacks on anything deemed too left-wing.)

The moment it becomes okay for prices to skyrocket, the entertainment industry will always follow suit. Going to the cinema becomes prohibitively expensive. Video games start at $60 and are weighed down by limitless transactions and extras you’re encouraged to buy to get ‘the full experience.’ You can’t buy your favourite film on DVD so you subscribe to a streaming service that might delete it from their platform anyway. Ticketmaster’s monopoly over the music industry has normalized spending several months’ worth of rent on one gig. And the same goes for theatre. To make matters worse, those community options are depleted or shut down, from the censorship and closure of libraries to the defunding of local performance spaces.

All of this has turned art into an elitist status symbol. It’s frankly depressing to watch people brag about spending four figures on Cowboy Carter or Eras tour tickets, as though it’s a sign of their commitment to their favourite singer and not further evidence of Ticketmaster’s unfettered greed. Seeing this same behaviour with Othello and David Mamet plays has helped to strengthen the idea that we should be competing for access to culture. Sure, it’s obscenely expensive but if you pay all that money then you win, right?

Theatre can be an incredibly special experience. I certainly treasure many visits I’ve made to places like the Edinburgh Playhouse or my local, the Dundee Rep, where I saw productions that stuck with me for years, decades even. I still remember seeing Of Mice & Men as a teen with my English class and feeling rejuvenated by the sheer visceral thrill of live theatre. But why can’t that be the norm for the majority of us? Theatre cannot survive as a rich jerk’s treat. There will be a tipping point when even those with the means won’t put down four figures for a mediocre play just because someone famous is in it. But until then, we’re stuck in this disheartening limbo where FOMO-fuelled elitism is putting more and more money into the pockets of producers over truly communal experiences.

There are alternatives to this one district in New York City, of course. Your local theatre should be supported if you have the means. You should take a risk and see something out of your comfort zone, maybe something you’ve been told ‘isn’t for you.’ Many excellent theatrical productions are available to watch from home thanks to things like National Theatre Live. And there are slime tutorials if you’re so inclined…

But ultimately, a paradigm shift needs to take place. There needs to be a greater investment into accessible and inclusive entertainment, and a change in attitudes that allows for everyone to feel as though art in all its forms can be an everyday part of their lives. It might not happen under this anti-art and proudly incurious administration, but there will always be options. Sorry, Denzel. I’d rather spend the money on my local theatre and the Malcolm X Criterion edition.