CityLife

Exchange's 10,000 free tickets for under-26s

Royal Exchange - tempting offer

MANCHESTER'S Royal Exchange Theatre today confirmed it is to make 10,000 free tickets available to under-26 year olds as part of a groundbreaking national scheme to increase cultural opportunities for young people.

The Free Theatre Initiative - pioneered by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) - will be launched by Arts Council England in February 2009.

Specifically aimed at young adults and their families, the scheme’s goal is to give away one million free tickets and is a bold move to boost a new generation of theatre-goers.

The Royal Exchange Theatre’s participation has been backed with a £30,000 grant and the 10,000 tickets are being offered in three strands:

Strand one - The First Stage: will give away an average of 20 to 30 tickets each week, targeting first time and hard to reach groups and individuals.

Fostered through the RET’s Education Department, this will form the first step in relationship building and possible participatory work.

It will help to expand the work done with community groups to encourage their individual clients and members to develop the skills and confidences to become theatre users (groups the Education Department already work with include young asylum seekers, teenagers on the autism spectrum and young people at risk of offending).

Strand two - The Friday Fifty: will offer 50 seats for each Friday night on a first-come, first-served basis and will be marketed to young workers in the city centre. This will be enhanced by SFX (Special Fridays at the Exchange) – the theatre’s popular range of free early-evening entertainment which is open to all.

Strand three -The Guest List: will offer 100 season tickets per season, including a package of events such as tours, workshops and talks, to enrich and support theatre visits.

This will be targeted at young people who have expressed an interest and commitment to the theatre and want to find out more.

Among those invited to apply will be members of the Exchange’s regular young people’s theatre groups and those attending Happy Mondays (the RET’s existing Monday night scheme which offers tickets to young people for £4).

 Young people can sign up now to receive more information on all the strands in the New Year by visiting the attached link.