Stage Banter: The Arena Stage Blog

See It Live for the Price of a Movie?

by David Dower

Sunday morning, October 7th. There are two major articles this morning about discounting theater tickets to try to attract younger audiences: Washington Post & New York Times. I wonder what Stage Banter readers think: is price the primary barrier to a wider popularity for live theater? Is it especially a barrier for younger culture consumers?

Arena Stage is cited in the Post's article for our $10 tickets for the 30-and-under set.  They didn't quite get the details of the program right, but you can find those here.

In an earlier post, I listed other discount options for tickets to our shows.

So, many people can see Arena performances for under $30 now, and for as little as $10.  Or see the final dress rehearsal for free. So will they?

Race on Stage: A Conversation with the Actors

by David Dower

Emily Ackerman as Lisa Kron and Donnetta Lavinia Grays as Lori Jones in Well

On Thursday, October 11th, we'll host an interesting discussion following the performance of Well. Arena's Associate Executive Director Desirée Urquhart will moderate a conversation with Donnetta Lavinia Grays ("Lori Jones" in Well), Tracey Scott Wilson (author of the play The Good Negro which we'll be reading in our Downstairs Series on October 22nd), and Harriett D. Foy ("Lorraine" in The Women of Brewster Place). 

Our topic: Race on Stage

There are a couple of convergent events that make this a great moment to stop and discuss, with our audiences, where we are as a community around the issues of race as played out on the stage of Arena Stage, in the local, national, and global context of our Washington, D.C. location.