Pay-What-You-Can removes barriers to bring audiences back
More Edmonton arts organizations are allowing their patrons to choose what they want to pay for admission in a bid to make art more accessible and convince audiences to return after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) performances are not new — the Citadel Theatre has offered them for 25 years, for example — but some arts professionals say the idea is gaining ground.
Thou Art Here Theatre produced Civil Blood: A Treaty Story this summer, an immersive, Indigenized reimagining of Romeo and Juliet set in the Old Fort at Fort Edmonton Park. The entire run was PWYC, and patrons were not required to pay to enter Fort Edmonton Park.
Thou Art Here's artistic leadership mentee Dayna Lea Hoffmann told Taproot many interested in attending plays struggle to afford tickets and PWYC is one way independents are addressing that. "I'm noticing a really large shift for indie companies," Hoffmann said. "Most indie companies are offering either a select amount of pay-what-you-can tickets, or all tickets (as) pay-what-you-can."
The Kaleido Family Arts Festival, which runs on Alberta Avenue from Sept. 13 to 15, is fully PWYC, with no admission gates. When the festival started 19 years ago, organizers charged $5 to enter. "What we realized was that we were eliminating probably 50% of our community," said Christy Morin, executive director of Arts on the Ave, Kaleido's parent organization. "I stood there watching and running after them, saying, 'Come back, come on in.' I did that over and over again, and finally, I said to our volunteer, 'Just let them in.'"
Kaleido shifted to a PWYC model shortly after the first festival.
Grants from organizations such as the Edmonton Arts Council, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Canada Council for the Arts almost entirely fund Thou Art Here's shows, and are instrumental to allow the company to offer PWYC admission, Hoffmann said. "We have all of the funding necessary to secure the location, the tools necessary to put on the show, and the fees and wages that (the cast and crew are) entitled to," Hoffmann said. "Ticket sales are just a bonus for the company."
Kaleido costs about $300,000 annually to produce, Morin said. "We have leaned strongly on grants, donations, fundraising throughout the year, 50-50 (raffles), and it is a continual race," she said. "There's not ever a finish line to this." Morin said the festival used to have donation tubes and would collect about $2,000 throughout the festival, and now sells souvenirs and admission to inflatable obstacle courses to help raise money.
Meanwhile, the Citadel's well-attended PWYC program is supported by the Alberta Blue Cross, executive director Jessie van Rijn said. Tickets for the theatre's next show, A Streetcar Named Desire, are about $100 each. The theatre typically receives between $7 to $10 from each patron during its PWYC performances and usually offers PWYC tickets for two shows per production.
"PWYC performances have a tremendous impact on community building and expanding our programming to audiences who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the magic of live theatre," van Rijn said.
