Everything is becoming more expensive, the energy bill is no longer affordable for many people, and the hand is on the cut. The theaters in Drenthe start ticket sales with a tense feeling, because do theater visitors still have money for a ticket?
“I am absolutely relieved,” says Jacob Frölich. He is director of theater De Winsinghhof in Roden. Last Saturday he opened the doors to the friends of the theatre. They can then buy tickets before the actual ticket sale starts. “If we look purely at the number of sold-out performances, it is less. Usually there are about six, for this season we have sold out fewer performances immediately.” But the ticket sales are definitely not disappointing. “Fortunately, people still know where to find us,” says a satisfied Frölich, who is also happy that he did not have to increase the ticket prices.
The artists for this year have already been booked last year, for last year’s prizes. “I notice that the booking costs for next season are a lot higher.” Still, the director hopes that prices will not have to rise sharply next year either. Several cultural institutions issued a fire letter yesterday because of the high energy prices. Despite the fact that the director of the Winsinghhof also has enough concerns, they are not in a bag in ashes. “We are subsidized by the municipality and fortunately they find a theater in Roden important. So we receive sufficient support. Anyway, there are several cultural institutions in the municipality, so we don’t know how it will turn out in the end.”
In any case, it looks good for this season and the visitors do not have to sit in the hall with thick sweaters against the cold. The Winsinghhof opens on October 5 with Bert Visser. De Tamboer in Hoogeveen will open the theater season next week. The cash registers there opened for ticket sales two weeks ago. A relieved director there too. “We have eight hundred seats in the main hall and we have been sold out for ten days,” explains Pieter-Bas Rebers. “We have now sold about 20,000 seats and that is on track for us.”
Where many people are cutting back and cutting out fun things, the theater is still a popular outing. “Apparently the need for theater and culture is simply there. Fortunately, people want to experience live things. It is true that they buy the tickets a little later, but it is not the case that people stay away.” That makes it a bit more exciting for director Rebers, but is not wrong for the visitor who is looking for a spontaneous night out.
In Hoogeveen, too, visitors don’t have to worry that a theater ticket will soon be unaffordable. “Passing on twelve percent inflation is not going to happen with us,” said Pieter-Bas Rebers.