Plymouth theatre hails ‘accessible’ payment model

A theatre in Plymouth says a year of allowing audiences to decide how much they pay for performances has made its productions more accessible.

Barbican Theatre's Pay What You Decide (PWYD) scheme offers audiences the opportunity to pay whatever they feel an event is worth, even if that is nothing, and was implemented across 52 shows in the 2021/22 financial year.

According to the theatre’s Impact Report, 3,103 PWYD tickets were issued during 2021/22, generating an income of £17,224, resulting in an average yield of £9.

The theatre says 61% of its new audience was made up of under 35s non-arts attendees, with more than 25% of customers stating that the scheme was the reason they booked.

Marketing & Communications Manager Jo Cann said feedback from audiences had been “incredible,” with the scheme “making a huge difference to who can attend and benefit from the experience of culture and live events”.

“We have spent a great deal of time making sure the language used to communicate how Pay What You Decide works is both accessible and transparent and it’s genuinely so great to see how this has really worked for us and our audiences.”