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Post by shambles on May 11, 2022 11:31:54 GMT
Short run. World class creative team. Big name actors. Small theatre. Commercial production. Surely they are within their rights to charge whatever they want for the tickets. Basic supply and demand. 7 out of every 10 shows dont recoup. Why not make some money if you can. Sometimes it’s exasperating reading this forum. Especially as a professional. Please-we all really appreciate the passion and indeed the great knowledge of the members and your insights but please remember theatre producing is unbelievably risky. It can take 12 months of work to pull off rights/creative team/casting/investment/venue etc and of course most producers are looking to try and get 4 or 5 shows ‘off the ground’ whilst being thrilled if one out of every 5 actually comes together. This is a really good play. World class creative team. Top notch cast. Maybe let the investors and producers actually make money for a change. Sorry to quote this again but you’ll understand why.
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Post by couldileaveyou on May 11, 2022 11:36:35 GMT
I'm pretty sure BurlyBeaR is being sarcastic and making fun of the person who tried to justify extortionate prices, since we just saw how far this way of thinking can go.
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Post by shambles on May 11, 2022 11:40:54 GMT
I'm pretty sure BurlyBeaR is being sarcastic and making fun of the person who tried to justify extortionate prices, since we just saw how far this way of thinking can go. Then I retract, as I had only felt that they were in agreement given that other people who also seem to have the same line of thinking as OP had liked the post.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on May 11, 2022 13:13:00 GMT
I respect all opinions, but the majority of people I’ve seen who are outraged about this are people working in theatre, including very well known playwrights and industry leaders. There are famous playwrights who insist that a significant percentage of tickets (not 4) are reasonably priced, or who insist that producers cap tickets at a certain top price.
It’s not a case of audience members being upset because they don’t understand how the industry works and actual industry people defending it because most of what I’ve witnessed is the opposite.
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Post by matty on May 11, 2022 13:42:18 GMT
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Post by mkb on May 11, 2022 13:55:46 GMT
Are we now supposed to think that £175 for a short four-hander is absolutely fine then?
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Post by mkb on May 11, 2022 13:56:55 GMT
Are we now supposed to think that £175 for a short four-hander is absolutely fine then? Given the play's title, I could probably have phrased that a little better!
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Post by harry on May 11, 2022 14:17:17 GMT
I respect all opinions, but the majority of people I’ve seen who are outraged about this are people working in theatre, including very well known playwrights and industry leaders. There are famous playwrights who insist that a significant percentage of tickets (not 4) are reasonably priced, or who insist that producers cap tickets at a certain top price. It’s not a case of audience members being upset because they don’t understand how the industry works and actual industry people defending it because most of what I’ve witnessed is the opposite. I think your average punter clicks on a website, sees tickets are £400 and thinks “wow that’s a stupid amount of money” and then clicks onto something else. But it also means they say to their friend later “I wanted to see that play but theatre is so expensive, only posh rich people could afford to see it”. And then they don’t bother to even look next time something catches their eye because they have been subconsciously “told” it’s not for them. And that’s why theatremakers and workers are so narked off, because as well as making these specific people look greedy, it damages the industry as a whole. I understand that plays are really expensive to put on. And I do see from a producing point of view it seems crazy *not* to match prices to demand. And I know dynamic pricing has been around much longer than it’s been labelled as such in the form of discounts for shows with empty seats and higher prices for weekends etc. But I do believe to build peoples faith and trust in the industry and nurture the idea of theatregoing as an activity that anyone can enjoy, we should be saying “there’s a show, and we believe a ticket with a close up clear view has a value of X, and we believe you get the same high quality of show whenever in the run you come so that’s the price. And if you want to sit further back, or with a railing in the sight line then that’s a bit less. And the bonus for booking early is you get a wider choice of seats, and the penalty for booking late is they might run out. But we believe in the product and we’ve budgeted to make a bit of money should you agree with us and that’s ok” I know that’s not real life or real human nature but I can dream.
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Post by Jon on May 11, 2022 14:43:53 GMT
It’s a tricky balance because if you price things too cheaply then it can have the opposite effect and losing money for every show is not something that is sustainable.
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Post by kathryn on May 11, 2022 16:23:52 GMT
Just to add, it takes absolutely ages to change a perception like ‘theatre is really expensive and not for working class people’ or ‘the Donmar always sells out immediately so there’s no point checking for tickets’.
The latter of those I was still hearing repeated by people in the media years after it ceased to be true. The former is still incredibly common. Eye-catching headlines about ridiculous ticket prices really do put people off!
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Post by crabtree on May 11, 2022 16:24:43 GMT
This production seems to have an as erratic and unpredictable life as it's titular character. And how disappointing that life Godot, said titular character does not make an appearance.
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Post by harry on May 11, 2022 16:26:55 GMT
It’s a tricky balance because if you price things too cheaply then it can have the opposite effect and losing money for every show is not something that is sustainable. I’m not even suggesting specifically all prices should be cheap, just I’d much prefer that they were decided upon taking all things into consideration, and remained at that price. Surely shows are budgeted in such a way that if every seat sells on day 1 at the onsale price, producers and backers still make some money. Now there is of course the argument that milking the cash cow of a hit show allows you to produce more risky shows as you have the cushion but I still don’t think hikes of the level we saw here are ever justifiable. I just don’t see the difference between that, and the (I believe illegal) practice of buying up a load of theatre/concert tickets to popular things and then selling them on at 3 times the price.
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Post by lynette on May 11, 2022 19:00:35 GMT
We can debate the whys and wherefore til we all go blue in the face but come on, people, £400 for an ordinary play theatre ticket is bonkers. Full stop.
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Post by Rory on May 11, 2022 19:19:35 GMT
Elliott & Harper chanced their arm and it has backfired massively, as there was justifiable uproar. It'a good that a message has been sent loud and clear to them and to any other producers who might have been planning a similar outlandish stunt that people find it unacceptable and morally wrong.
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Post by NeilVHughes on May 11, 2022 19:27:48 GMT
Inspired marketing, a £175 ticket will now be considered a bargain.
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Post by marob on May 11, 2022 21:30:28 GMT
It’s a mediocre production of a one-act play with a cast of four in a blank space. It should probably be selling for £20 tops in a studio somewhere.
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Post by joem on May 11, 2022 21:31:17 GMT
It's definitely overpriced, no doubt about it. If the economics don't work out because of the size of the theatre you need a bigger theatre. If you cant fill a bigger theatre, you need a cheaper cast. Said it before seeing this, only Phil Daniels meant anything to me so I was definitely going because of the play and the casting did not affect my decision. But I hope the lack of props was a directorial decision and not saving costs so as to make more money! Frankly, it would have been nice to have a few more props and a little less miming.
As for the play itself it grew upon me despite the best efforts of the audience. Doubt it will be staged in a hundred years time but there are plenty of good lines and some genuine (as opposed to expected) laughs in it.
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Post by apubleed on May 12, 2022 7:28:09 GMT
So it’s morally wrong for the producers to ask for a high ticket price that no one has to pay for if they don’t want to, and it’s not a problem for them to rip off literally thousands of people who bought tickets to see Taron based on their advertising? The priorities here are all back to front!
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Post by jojo on May 12, 2022 14:31:59 GMT
I respect all opinions, but the majority of people I’ve seen who are outraged about this are people working in theatre, including very well known playwrights and industry leaders. There are famous playwrights who insist that a significant percentage of tickets (not 4) are reasonably priced, or who insist that producers cap tickets at a certain top price. It’s not a case of audience members being upset because they don’t understand how the industry works and actual industry people defending it because most of what I’ve witnessed is the opposite. I think your average punter clicks on a website, sees tickets are £400 and thinks “wow that’s a stupid amount of money” and then clicks onto something else. But it also means they say to their friend later “I wanted to see that play but theatre is so expensive, only posh rich people could afford to see it”. And then they don’t bother to even look next time something catches their eye because they have been subconsciously “told” it’s not for them. And that’s why theatremakers and workers are so narked off, because as well as making these specific people look greedy, it damages the industry as a whole. I understand that plays are really expensive to put on. And I do see from a producing point of view it seems crazy *not* to match prices to demand. And I know dynamic pricing has been around much longer than it’s been labelled as such in the form of discounts for shows with empty seats and higher prices for weekends etc. But I do believe to build peoples faith and trust in the industry and nurture the idea of theatregoing as an activity that anyone can enjoy, we should be saying “there’s a show, and we believe a ticket with a close up clear view has a value of X, and we believe you get the same high quality of show whenever in the run you come so that’s the price. And if you want to sit further back, or with a railing in the sight line then that’s a bit less. And the bonus for booking early is you get a wider choice of seats, and the penalty for booking late is they might run out. But we believe in the product and we’ve budgeted to make a bit of money should you agree with us and that’s ok” I know that’s not real life or real human nature but I can dream. Prices like that are damaging to the reputation of theatre in general, because as you say, it encourages people to think theatre is for the super-rich, and not them. So it's right that people who work in theatre challenge these practices. I've seen some lobby for theatre to be allowed to keep the lower VAT rate introduced because of COVID, but that's hard to justify when there are prices like this in the middle of a cost of living crisis. Like you, I agree that producers have a right to make a profit, and enough profit to compensate for the shows that aren't big hits, or to have the option of doing something riskier next time. I have sympathy with those who are desperate to see profits come in after an awful couple of years. YET, it's storing up problems for the future. Not only are people put off from trying to go to the theatre, but how many agents will see that and think they should be demanding higher fees for their celebrity names? Dynamic pricing is fine up to a point. If a show is successful enough that dynamic pricing means they can charge extra-silly money for remaining seats, then it means they are already turning in a very healthy profit, which means they can afford to cap the top prices.
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Post by Jon on May 12, 2022 15:22:26 GMT
Prices like that are damaging to the reputation of theatre in general, because as you say, it encourages people to think theatre is for the super-rich, and not them. So it's right that people who work in theatre challenge these practices. I've seen some lobby for theatre to be allowed to keep the lower VAT rate introduced because of COVID, but that's hard to justify when there are prices like this in the middle of a cost of living crisis. Like you, I agree that producers have a right to make a profit, and enough profit to compensate for the shows that aren't big hits, or to have the option of doing something riskier next time. I have sympathy with those who are desperate to see profits come in after an awful couple of years. YET, it's storing up problems for the future. Not only are people put off from trying to go to the theatre, but how many agents will see that and think they should be demanding higher fees for their celebrity names? Dynamic pricing is fine up to a point. If a show is successful enough that dynamic pricing means they can charge extra-silly money for remaining seats, then it means they are already turning in a very healthy profit, which means they can afford to cap the top prices. I do think there are some on here who don't think producers should be able to make money on a show which is silly because just recouping or losing money isn't viable for theatre in the long term and if you want to have things like affordable rush tickets, lottery etc then it needs to be balanced with more expensive tickets.
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Post by fluxcapacitor on May 12, 2022 15:23:59 GMT
Inspired marketing, a £175 ticket will now be considered a bargain. I did initially wonder when they dropped the prices if they were trying a cunning little marketing ploy by raising the prices drastically in the hope of generating good publicity when prices were "LOWERED BY 75%" and sold as a bargain. But if that was the ploy, it's backfired rather spectacularly. Now even the remaining "discounted" prices of £125+ don't seem to be selling all that well, so I think all the bad press might have had a negative effect on the play's reputation. A rather bad dent at the end of an already troubled run, and unfortunately this is now probably what the production will widely be remembered for.
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Post by Deal J on May 12, 2022 15:24:53 GMT
Yes I agree, it's not good optics. £460 is 1.2% of the average annual salary in the UK, so if people are getting the impression that's a typical cost for theatre tickets, it's definitely going to put some off completely.
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 13, 2022 5:54:33 GMT
Shame on them. It would be scandalous to justify that price even if Taron was still in it, but now with only Jonathan Bailey as the ‘star’? Disgusting.
And the argument that they price this high to eliminate scalpers is laughable. Basically saying “We will rip you off instead of them. You’re welcome”
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 13, 2022 5:58:34 GMT
Inspired marketing, a £175 ticket will now be considered a bargain. I did initially wonder when they dropped the prices if they were trying a cunning little marketing ploy by raising the prices drastically in the hope of generating good publicity when prices were "LOWERED BY 75%" and sold as a bargain. But if that was the ploy, it's backfired rather spectacularly. Now even the remaining "discounted" prices of £125+ don't seem to be selling all that well, so I think all the bad press might have had a negative effect on the play's reputation. A rather bad dent at the end of an already troubled run, and unfortunately this is now probably what the production will widely be remembered for. To be fair- I think it will be remembered for Taron jumping ship.
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Post by david on May 14, 2022 17:22:16 GMT
Having only booked quite late on, I missed out on the opportunity to grab some of the £25 tickets so I ended up paying £65 for a row F Circle seat when TE was still attached to the production. Based on my viewing this afternoon, after the 90 minutes in all honesty I certainly don’t feel that this show was worth what I paid despite the great view.
Having previously enjoyed Mike Bartlett’s Albion, Snowflake and more recently Scandaltown, despite all 4 cast members delivering some great performances and getting plenty of laughs from this afternoons audience, I didn’t think this was a great play. With the play seemingly being delivered with great speed shouting at each other, there wasn’t much emotional depth in any of the characters for me that allowed me to invest anything emotionally during the show and at the conclusion of the play I really couldn’t of cared less about John and his relationships.
JB and JHJ worked really well together and had some great on stage chemistry and worked well together and was one of the few positives I took from the show along with the short run time.
The metallic box set really could of done with some props just to flesh it out as the whole miming thing of sitting at tables, taking costs off etc was really boring after a while.
Sorry Marianne, I love your previous work, but this was a misfire for me.
As an aside, there where around 5 empty seats next to me, and I spotted a few empty ones in the rows I front which a couple also spotted and tried to move into from the ends of row F where they where originally sat until an eagle eyed FOH staff member spotted their attempt at a seat upgrade and told them to get back to their own seat.
Rating - 3⭐️
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Post by minion on May 14, 2022 17:43:47 GMT
What is the audience composition for this like? Can one tell if there are loads of Bridgerton fans?
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Post by Rory on May 14, 2022 17:46:14 GMT
When I saw it it was a good, respectful audience. No arsing about, inane laughter or squealing. Loads in their 20s.
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 15, 2022 6:59:21 GMT
When I saw it it was a good, respectful audience. No arsing about, inane laughter or squealing. Loads in their 20s. Same. I’d say mainly 20-40 year olds.. a pretty well behaved audience considering todays standards
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Post by mkb on May 21, 2022 22:58:37 GMT
I went last night and the news that Taron was out was kept pretty well hidden. There was a slip in the programme £5 which said ... Basic programmes are now £6.00! I kid you not.
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