PAY WHAT YOU CAN
The Vaults are proud to offer an unorthodox pricing system, allowing customers to purchase tickets from as low as £3, dependent on the show.
We have seen success with this model, whereby we encourage ticket buyers to select a ticket price that best suits their financial position.
Why do we do this?
We believe theatre should be accessible to anyone, and that art of all forms should be inclusive. Inspiration should come cheap, and encouragement to join the industry should be wide-reaching.
Not everyone in London is able to afford to take themselves to a West End show, let alone their children and families, so by offering this we hope to be contributing to future generations of theatre makers and lovers.
How do we do this?
The Vaults is an independent and un-funded organisation, and as such all our ticket income goes directly towards paying our staff, cast, crew and general venue up-keep. We manage all of our own production budgets, and always allow enough leeway to support a cheaper band of tickets.
What are the limitations?
As a venue that does rely solely on ticket income, we are sadly not able to provide these every day. We chose our less busy days (often mid-week performances) as we know we will be able to guarantee the space! In order to be able to offer Pay What You Can, we therefore need to ensure we have capacity for as many full-price ticket holders we can manage on the popular weekend days!
Our methods differ slightly between productions, but we generally offer between 20 to 50 tickets per night.
We also cap the number of Pay What You Can tickets per purchase to 4. This is to avoid our system being abused, and large scale parties or group bookings taking advantage of it.
A Pay What You Can ticket will also mean you are most likely to have a "cheaper" seat, and may end up less involved in the action.
Lastly, you may not see this option available for every show taking place at The Vaults. We ensure to offer it for all of our in-house productinos, but when we house external shows, we are not always in charge of their box office.
Why are you telling us this?
We believe in transparency in our business operations, and that openness about our beliefs, policies and abilities adds to the safe space we want to provide for our customers.
We also wish people to understand the reasons behind our efforts, as well as the risk we take by providing this option. We want people to purchase tickets fairly, as if they do not, we may not be able to continue this affordable pricing model.
What price band should I pick?
If you are able, we would always ask that you select a full price ticket. We set these at what we believe to be fair and appropriate rates for our shows into which we pour months of love and hard work. We strive to always remain lower that similar productions around us.
However, if you wish to purchase a Pay What You Can ticket, we ask that you genuinely take a moment to assess the production, what you feel our work is worth, and how much you can genuinely afford.
If you can afford one £20 ticket, and your friend can only afford £10, we will be so grateful to see this come through and know that someone has used our system fairly and wisely.
If you are only able to afford a £5 ticket, then we are so very glad that you will be able to join us for a wonderfully Vaultsy night out, and hope that you spread the word about this policy so others may benefit too.
We want to do this too!
If you are a local theatre, venue or producer, and want to trial this out yourselves, please do get in touch and we'd be happy to share our experiences and tips and tricks, and the way we've managed to make this work.
Whatever you have paid for your ticket, we are so grateful for your support, and look forward to giving you a warm (and wet!) welcome to The Vaults.