TICKETS go on sale this week for two preview shows for Macbeth at Manchester International Festival (MIF), starring Kenneth Branagh in the title role and Alex Kingston as Lady Macbeth.
The aim of the lower priced tickets is to appeal to local residents on lower wages and therefore give more people in Greater Manchester a chance to experience MIF.
The previews take place on Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 July. Tickets for the two preview shows will be available exclusively to Greater Manchester residents and go on sale at 1pm on Tuesday 23 April.
Tickets are priced at £65, with a number of tickets also available at £12 for residents on a lower wage and concessions at £10 off the full price. A limited number of tickets for Macbeth performances throughout the festival will also be released at the same time, including £12 tickets for Greater Manchester residents.
The aim of the lower priced tickets is to appeal to local residents on lower wages and therefore give more people in Greater Manchester a chance to experience MIF. Lower income is said to be any wage around or lower than £7.45 per hour or £13,500 per year.
With half the tickets available by phone on a first come, first served, honesty basis, there is of course the worry that residents on salaries above the lower wage bracket will snap them up anyway.
However, a MIF spokesperson said: ‘We can’t control which Greater Manchester residents buy these tickets, but we would ask everyone to be honest – if you know you can afford the full price please leave the £12 tickets for someone who can’t.’
The other half of tickets available will be available to buy via a promo code scheme.
A MIF spokesperson said: ‘We will be working with existing networks in Greater Manchester to identify communities and groups who qualify for this scheme and give them a code to purchase £12 tickets.’
Tickets for In Conversation events featuring festival artists in discussion with DJ and author Dave Haslam are also on sale from Tuesday 23 April.
Artists in conversation include Neneh Cherry (7 July), Jamal Edwards (10 July), Rob da Bank & Kevin Cummins (19 July) and Delphic (20 July).
There are still a number of tickets available under the £12 scheme, as well as general tickets for a range of events across the festival.
Visit www.mif.co.uk for details.
