Monday, June 18, 2018

Expensive art

I mentioned a few weeks back that I thought the Banksy exhibit was just too expensive -- $35 plus a bunch of fees.  Perhaps I would have eventually gone if the total cost was kept to $30, though really $25 is kind of my upper limit for paying for a one-person show.  Ticket sales have been really strong, however, so it is unlikely they will have to do any last-minute discount or deals.  Too bad for me, so I think I will end up skipping this and trying to see the Banksy piece that is somewhere near Union Station.

What I was not expecting is that some of the Luminato shows would be so expensive.  I had been planning on catching Burning Doors by the Belarus Free Theatre with special guest Maria Alyokhina of Pussy Riot fame.  This would naturally be very challenging and intense, based on their past work.  As they note, there will be scenes of violence and torture, so leave the young ones at home.  However, if one is not an arts worker (and I can't really claim that, even with a piece in the Fringe), then the tickets work out to over $80 with fees.  Have I ever paid that much for theatre?  Yes, but only in very exceptional circumstances, and definitely not to sit for an hour or two and be made utterly miserable by watching man's inhumanity to man.  So I'll skip this as well, and indeed all of Luminato this year.  I'll just have to live with my memories of catching them in Evanston right after the company had been forced into exile.  For those of you still interested, here is the link.  They are playing this week only at Luminato.

Fortunately for you, there are many lower priced options, especially including Fringe, where even with the ticket fees, tickets come out to $13 (or even just $8 if it is a preview night).  As I have mentioned before, Final Exam has one preview on July 5, so come out and check that out.  Tickets can be purchased here.

No comments:

Post a Comment