Dept for Culture, Media & Sport "combating social exclusion and promoting regeneration" One of the ten key arts goals of the DCMS ROH web site Opera House 'attracts younger crowd' "...we will take action to change the employment profile and governance of arts organisations to reflect the diversity of society in England." Arts Council England unveils its ambitions for the arts in March 2003

The government’s policies towards greater equality of access for all took a further step today with the announcement of new measures to ensure that state supported arts get the “right” audiences for their work. The Royal Opera House, often touted as the bastion of high culture for the rich and privileged few, will be the initial target of this move to monitor audience age range and social class. Just as universities are being forced to reserve a certain proportion of their places for entrants from state schools even if there are better qualified applicants from private schools, a more selective approach will be used to monitor the nature of the audience, and ultimately to affect ticket allocation, programming and funding support.

Initially the move will be just to analyse the current audience profile. Will attendees of Covent Garden be surprised to be confronted as they enter for the performance with young researchers carrying clipboards asking a few pertinent questions about age and social class ? Or will this simply be determined by written surveys of the existing Friends membership or additional boxes to tick on the application form for tickets to specify age, social class and ethnic origin ?

“Obviously this is a tricky subject to handle” said a spokesman. “People may be more comfortable about supplying this kind of information on paper in private, but a sample actually on the door would help us confirm that, say, the age range was as we had been led to expect on the application forms” (Do they mean they are expecting a few fibs ? Surely not). Ballet audiences may already conform rather more to the sought after social range

This is just the first step, however: the next is to establish a target distribution in terms of age range, social class and ethnic origin and to take appropriate steps to ensure that over time the target profile is reached. “It is

“Ultimately our grant may depend on having enough of the right sort of people in the audience...”

absolutely vital for us to have a young and socially diverse audience, in tune with our aspirations to present a more modern inclusive image. Ultimately our grant may depend on having enough of the right sort of people in the audience, which is a more significant measure of success in the government’s terms than the actual quality of work on stage. We cannot go on presenting the same old war horses if they do not appeal to people under 30.” This may have profound effects on programming and ticket prices. First steps have already been taken with the use of the ROH for pop concerts such as that by Bjork (which will of course help towards the targets, and we can expect to see more of these in future.

One initial thought is that a certain proportion of tickets will be specifically reserved for elements of the new target audience and will not be bookable by the regular opera house audience. Applicants would need to state age,

“Applicants would need to state age, social class and ethnic origin and possibly answer a multiple choice tie break question...”

social class and ethnic origin and possibly answer a multiple choice tie break question designed to test their existing knowledge of ballet or opera – get the right answer and the ticket application fails. It is a new audience which is needed, one prepared to be less critical of existing productions and less prone to compare them unfavourably with those of the past.

Getting hold of tickets for popular productions has always been a tricky business – some will always sell out well in advance. Will the really keen Covent Garden habitués find their way round the new system ? Guerrilla tactics may ensue as applicants apply under false names and tweak their ages on application forms to fit the desired profile - but will they be detected when grey haired individuals turn up for the performance ? Will there be monitoring on the door to

“...perhaps the great and good who serve on the board will ultimately make way for representatives of new Britain – Pop Idol winners, TV presenters, and soap stars who really understand how to bring mass appeal to the arts”

ensure that those who turn up comply with their stated profile ?

How will this all work in practice ? Will the new young working class audience really apply for £80 tickets ? And how will the existing corporate crowd react ? The Arts Council’s stated policy is to change the employment profile and governance of arts organisations to reflect the diversity of society in England, so perhaps the great and good who serve on the board will ultimately make way for representatives of new Britain – Pop Idol winners, TV presenters, and soap stars who really understand how to bring mass appeal to the arts. Access by a socially desirable mix of people is the key and if opera and ballet cannot measure up to this, then they will have to go in favour of truly popular forms such as the musical. It is possible that the Nutcracker may still be retained at Christmas in order to provide something for the kids.