Fountain Theatre Announces Name Your Price Ticket Policy for POETRY FOR THE PEOPLE Production

The Fountain Theatre announced what it calls a "Living Ticket" model for all performances of its current production, Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience. Starting immediately, all tickets to the production will be "Name Your Price."

Inspired by the words of poet June Jordan, the fierce human rights advocate whose work and legacy are the subject of this bold, theatrical new work, the Fountain has adjusted its ticket pricing policy in order to ensure radical inclusion.

"For those of us who have been in this building creating Poetry For The People, we've found a special kind of solace and solidarity in this work," said Fountain Theatre managing director Johannah Maynard Edwards. "We want to share that with you… and to remind you that gathering to participate in the creation of new work is not a luxury — it's essential to our collective humanity."

The new pricing model is called a "Living Ticket" because it's designed to fluctuate to meet the needs of both the theater and its patrons.

"We all need art," said Edwards. "We all need to live. What we don't need are impossible barriers to entry,. We will tell you what it costs to make this art happen. We trust you to balance your own capacity with our shared desire for artists and arts workers to receive fair pay. Together, we will make it work."

In an email to its patrons, Edwards revealed that the production costs for Poetry for the People total $94,094.40, with the cost per performance breaking down to $2851.35. To meet these costs and break even the theater need to see 75% of all available tickets at $50.02 per ticket.

"Knowing this, and knowing your own financial reality, we invite you to 'name your price,'" he said. "The cost of living has skyrocketed. If you're feeling like you're barely hanging on, you're not alone. We're right there with you. We trust you to know your own capacity and to value the work meaningfully. We want you, just as you are, able to fully immerse yourself in this experience. Theatre and poetry are for the people."

Co-devised by Fountain artistic director Raymond O. Caldwell alongside Jordan’s longtime collaborator and life partner Adrienne Torf, Poetry for the People features a dynamic six-member ensemble who weave together Jordan’s electric poetry with movement and music to illuminate the life and legacy of a woman who believed that “poetry is a political act.”