A Night Less Ordinary

I was at Oldham Coliseum yesterday, and was reminded of the launch of the new Arts Council initiative to get young(er) people to go to theatre. “A Night Less Ordinary”, was a free ticket initiative announced at the Bridgewater Hall by culture secretary Andy Burnham, during the Labour Party Conference in the Autumn.
I’d kind of forgot about it – but Oldham Coliseum, along with Bury Met, Bolton Octagon, and, in the city, the Library Theatre, Royal Exchange and Contact Theatre – are all signed up to the initiative which over the next two years offers free theatre tickets to under-26s. At 25, I’d been in my 2nd job a couple of years, had already bought and sold a house, and had – funnily enough – more disposable income than at any time before or since, but that aside, it’s clearly not just for “kids.”
What’s pleasing is that in order to make it work, these organisations, and others around the country, are beginning to implement digital marketing strategies – so as well as the usual email sign ups, there’s a Facebook group set up to find out more about the initiative.
I know that those theatres I meet with on a regular basis are excited about the initiative, particularly since it has a life of two years. At the Coliseum for instance, they’re offering a limited number of tickets every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as part of the scheme, whilst the Royal Exchange is offering up 50 tickets on a first-come, first-served basis each Friday. I expect to see a range of digital marketing techniques over the next year or so as the theatres try and grow and keep this new audience.