£25 a Ticket? Are You Serious?

Today we are talking cash. Cold, hard cash. Not very British, is it? Oh no no no.

I’m exactly the same. I hate asking people for money. I hate chasing people for money. In fact, anything that involves me having to say, “Hello, sorry, just wondering if you’ve had a chance to…” makes me want to crawl inside myself.

Turns out, that’s not a particularly useful personality trait when you’re trying to sell tickets to a show! But, we digress …

Money might be a slightly controversial subject to head into this early in our little blogging adventure. But then again, if we’re not going to talk about the big things, what’s the point?

Plus, money is on my mind. A lot at the moment.

As we head into the final two weeks before the curtain goes up on RENT, the bills are starting to pop up and say hello! I’m also fairly certain I’m now Vinted’s top buyer of items that have been sitting on sale for approximately 847 days.

And so, while I spend an entirely healthy amount of time looking at spreadsheets and moving numbers around in the vague hope that they might somehow become different numbers, I thought it might be interesting to talk about something I don’t think audiences necessarily see: what you’re actually getting for your money when you buy a ticket to an “amateur” musical.

Because the £25 (well, £23 for a RENT concession!) ticket doesn’t just buy you a seat for a couple of hours. There’s quite a lot more going on behind it.

And I think there’s an important conversation here about how we keep theatre both accessible to audiences and sustainable for the people putting it on.

Let's start with the word "amateur" (Yes, the bunny ears are important!)

Before we get into the money, there’s something I think is really important to clear up.

In theatre, “amateur” simply means the performers aren’t paid. It doesn’t mean they aren’t talented, trained or experienced, and it certainly doesn’t mean they aren’t professional in the way they approach what they do.

Our local theatre community is absolutely packed with people who have trained professionally, performed professionally or have years, sometimes decades, of experience behind them. They just happen to have other careers.

They go to work all day and then go to rehearsal. They give up evenings and weekends. They learn lines, music, harmonies and choreography and then somehow remember to turn up to their actual jobs the next morning.

They do it because they love theatre.

And that’s one of the things I love most about local theatre. There is an extraordinary amount of talent in our communities, and people give up an enormous amount of their own time to create something for other people to enjoy.

So, if the performers aren't being paid, where does all the money go?!

Big reveal time ...

An “amateur” musical can cost £35,000 – £45,000 to stage, depending on the production, venue and scale. Smaller venues and productions will obviously cost less, while some productions go well beyond £50,000 and even £100,000.

£100,000.

For an "amateur" musical. I suspect that’s not what most people imagine when they hear the word "amateur".

Think: venue hire. Rehearsal space. Performing rights and licensing. Set. Costumes. Props. Lighting. Sound. Scripts. Accompanists. Music hire. Musicians. Director. Choreographer. Musical Director. Insurance. Auditions. Marketing. Publicity materials. Design software. Ticketing.

None of these things are “too expensive”. Nobody is charging us too much. There isn’t one outrageous bill sitting at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

It’s just that when you add them all together… it’s significant.

And then approximately 14,000 other things that you didn’t realise were things until you suddenly became responsible for paying for them because you own a business.

An annual data protection fee, for example…? I still don’t entirely know what I’m paying for, other than the privilege of avoiding a £3,000 fine. If anyone knows what I’m actually getting for my money, please do enlighten me.

There are all the little costs too. A bit of printing here. A replacement prop there. An extra rehearsal hour. A “different” cowbell … it all adds up.

So, while I and the people on stage might be doing it because they love it, the rest of the production still has to be paid for.

But what about the ticket price?

So, £25 a ticket (£23 for concessions 😉). I can hear it now. “£25?! For an amateur, sorry … “amateur” (!!!), show?”

And honestly? We get it.

£25 is £25. For some lucky people, that’s a very affordable night out. For others, it’s a significant amount of money.

But that £25 has all of those aforementioned costs sitting behind it, and unfortunately, the bills don’t accept “but we’re only amateur theatre” as a form of payment.

We’re not pricing a ticket at £25 because we’re trying to make a heinous amount of money from it. We’re not the theatre equivalent of Jeff Bezos … sadly, the yacht will need to be funded elsewhere.

The ticket price is a reflection of the cost for putting on a show and to ensure we’'re able to it again.

And again.

And again.

But what if £25 really is too much?

Because knowing what a show costs doesn’t magically make £25 affordable for everyone. And that matters to us as we care deeply about theatre being accessible for all.

So we’ve decided to offer Pay What You Can.

If the standard ticket price is the thing stopping you from coming to RENT, get in touch. There’s no means testing, no awkward interrogation and no need to justify yourself. Just tell us what you can afford and we’ll sort it out with you.

It might be £5. It might be £10. It might be £15. It might be something else.

There’s no perfect answer. But this is simply what we’ve decided to try because it feels like the right approach for the company we’re trying to build.

And why does any of this matter?

Because local theatre is about much more than what happens on stage.

It creates opportunities for performers, musicians, directors, designers, choreographers, technicians, stage managers, costume teams, photographers, front of house teams and a whole host of people who make a production happen.

And it gives audiences the chance to experience ambitious theatre right on their doorstep.

Sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s ridiculous. Sometimes it’s spectacular. And sometimes, like RENT, it tackles subjects that are difficult, uncomfortable and incredibly important.

That’s why we wanted to do it. And that’s why we want to keep doing it.

RENT is at Yeadon Town Hall from 8-12 September 2026.

If you can afford a ticket at face value, please buy one here: www.ticketsource.com/thatsthebadgerproductions. You’re not just paying for the two hours you spend in the auditorium. You’re helping create the experience you’re coming to see, and helping us make the next one happen.

If you can’t afford £25, that’s okay too. That’s exactly why Pay What You Can is there. Get in touch with us at hello@thatsthebadgerproductions.co.uk.

Either way, we’d love to see you there.

So there you go, the curtain has been pulled back a little to show you what sits behind that ticket price.

Phew!

We’ve done it.

We’ve talked about money.

Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going back to talking about the weather. Much safer territory.

Lucy 🦡🤍