Albany To Sell £1 Tickets In Deptford Market

The Albany, South East London's leading arts centre, has just announced that it will release ten tickets at the cost of just £1 for every show next season - to be sold to the public via a stall in Deptford Market on Friday 6 December from 9am. Tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis from a dedicated (bright pink!) market stall nestled amongst the fishmongers and fruit and veg stands on Deptford High Street.

Gavin Barlow, CEO of the Albany, said: "Deptford Market is literally on our doorstep, and so it made sense to us to offer these tickets to local people through the market stall. It's a playful way of engaging with new audiences in our local community, who form the cornerstone of everything we do. Every season the Albany offers a large and diverse programme of theatre, music, spoken word, festival, circus and cabaret, so we hope that the cost of the tickets will encourage people to take a risk on something they normally wouldn't experience."

Highlights of the season will include How To Be Immortal (Tue 28 - Wed 29 Jan, 7.45pm), a bold, humorous new play based on the true story of Henrietta Lacks, whose DNA was used in the first human immortal cell line; Jonzi D's Lyrikal Fearta: The Letter and the Broken Lineage (Fri 7 & Sat 8 Feb, 7.30pm), about the dance innovator's decision to reject his MBE; and The Chair (Tue 29 Apr - Fri 2 May, 7.30pm), a reinterpretation of Eugene Ionesco's classic adapted by Martin Crimp and performed by Extant, the pioneering visually impaired performance company.

There will be music from Mercury Award nominee Eliza Carthy (Sun 15 Feb, 7.30pm), bold new circus mash ups in BITES: Remix (Fri 25 Apr, 7.30pm), and some of the UK's finest spoken word from Chill Pill (Thu 20 Feb & Thu 24 Apr, 7.30pm). Work for young people includes Polarbear's Mouth Open Story Jump Out (Sat 15 Mar, 1 & 3pm) for 8-11 year olds; the heart-stopping, immersive production Macbeth - Blood Will Have Blood (Tue 4 & Sat 8 Mar, 7.30pm & 1pm respectively) for 9-13 year olds; as well as a series of Families shows on Sundays for the Under 8s.

£1 tickets will not only be made available to market goers. From 2pm on Friday 6 December tickets will be available to book online and through the box office, and further releases of £1 tickets will be announced in the run up to Christmas and in the New Year, as further shows go on sale. With an average ticket price of just £6**, and no booking fees, the Albany offers affordable arts for all - even those that don't nab a £1 ticket.

The scheme came about as a direct response to conversations with visitors to Deptford Market.

"Over the last few months, we have been taking our (bright pink) Albany market stall out into the market, talking to local people about their lives, and their relationship with the venue, as well as telling them more about what we do. It was clear that people were keen to give new shows a try but were nervous about taking a risk, The £1 ticket scheme is a way to make it easier for them to do so," Gavin Barlow said.

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