September 23rd, 2008 by Gregory Jones

The theatre has long held an elitist and pretentious image in the minds of young Britons. However, a state funded plan that was launched today is aiming to change the way the theatre is viewed by the nation’s young adults. Starting in 2009, the government will inject more than £2 million into the new project in order to fund free access to theatre across the UK for 18-26 year olds.

Tickets to certain shows have long been inaccessible for the younger end of the market due to high ticket prices. Discounts already exist for students, but many young professionals are not keen to fork out for full priced tickets.

Only time will tell how successful the new scheme will be in attracting new audiences to theatres across the UK. However it is clear that the opposite end of the market is demonstrating a willingness to pay whatever it takes to see their favourite shows. Some of this year’s top shows including Oliver!, Mamma Mia and Dirty Dancing are selling for more than six times face value on the resale markets. One pair of tickets originally bought for £90 to see David Tennant in the latest production of Hamlet sold recently for £607.