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I tweeted about seeing Christopher Plummer and James Earl Jones in OTHELLO in 1982 and many people have responded by wishing they could have seen it (or had a time machine). I saw this as a college student, on a ticket from @TKTS that likely cost me around $12.
Yes, this tweet marks me as one of the olds, but I was a student, even before I'd decided to make theatre a career. This is how I gained access. When we come back, we must make theatre ever more accessible, so young people can continue to have foundational experiences.
When I bought that ticket years ago, I didn't do it to make people envious. I did it because I wanted to see JEJ, who I first saw on stage at @yalerep in TIMON OF ATHENS and A LESSON FROM ALOES (in repertory). It was my first time seeing Plummer live.
Please don't misconstrue this as saying we must make Broadway alone more accessible. We need to, but there must be a genuinely low barrier to access at every theatre, commercial & not-for-profit. When I saw JEJ at Yale, my student rush ticket was $2.75, about the same as a movie.
It's hard to say this when there is no access to theatre, but when theatre comes back, and it will, it must make a reset on so many issues, and build back better.
