THE blackened Gorbals tenements may have gone, and only a few remnants from the Victorian facade remain in the foyer, but ticket prices are about to be wound back to the heyday of the Citizens Theatre.
New artistic director Dominic Hill's tenure opens with a season offering theatre-goers the chance to see David Hayman in King Lear and Cal Macaninch in Harold Pinter's Betrayal for roughly the price of a pint of milk.
Inspired by the pricing policy pioneered in 1976 when the Citz boldly proclaimed "all seats 50p", the theatre's box office will sell 100 tickets at 50p each for three major forthcoming productions.
The Gorbals Street theatre under the triumvirate directorship of Giles Havergal, Philip Prowse and Robert David McDonald turned around the fortunes of the ailing theatre in the 1970s by driving down prices and increasing attendances, with Prowse stating: "If nobody likes what we do, we can do what we like."
The theatre's 50p seat policy – the same price as a packet of 20 cigarettes in the late-1970s – was in place for three years before being increased to 75p in 1979 then 90p in 1981.
New artistic director Hill, who joined the company in October from the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, said: "It was our desire to ensure nobody would be able to say they couldn't afford to come to the Citz, that we were able to offer prices for everybody.
"Secondly, it's nice looking back at something that was so successful and legendary when it was done by Giles and Philip 30-odd years ago."
Customers will be required to buy the 50p tickets – limited to two per customer – in cash and in person on the morning of their release. Staff anticipate that queues reminiscent of its fabled 1970s pricing project will be a fitting reflection of Hayman's first appearance at the venue in 32 years.
Tickets for Betrayal will be available on Saturday, February 25; for King Lear on Saturday, April 14; and a Samuel Beckett double-bill of Krapp's Last Tape and Footfalls on May 26.
Hill added: "There's nothing more fantastic than a full theatre.
"If we could increase the number of people coming to the Citz, and also people's awareness of it, then that is two really good things to do through my first season and this offer."
The Citizens maintains a low-cost tradition with tickets priced at £2 for the unemployed and those living in the G5 postcode.
Havergal, Prowse and McDonald were renowned for controversial artistic decisions in the 1970s. City councillors threatened to withdraw the theatre's grant following an announcement that trade union members would be admitted one evening for free, while its production of Hamlet in 1975 – which became notorious after being described as "Shakespeare in drag" – now features on merchandise sold by the theatre.
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