Hello StageSider’s, welcome back to another Wondering Wednesday. I have recently been to see a few shows and I have seen a few merch wearers serving theatre nerd realness and I have been living for it! But it did make me think. Would/should I buy merch from touring shows I see? Would you buy merch from shows you’ve seen?
If I am being honest, I find theatre to be a bit too commercial these days. I know they are just following the order of events, as everyone and everything has merch now. But I feel a bit like £30 for a ticket, £5 for a programme, £5 for a drink and then £20 for a jumper makes going to see a show an expensive night out. £60 may not be a lot to some people, and if you go to the theatre once in a while I am sure that it makes a nice treat and rounds off the experience. As someone who goes to the theatre once a month [as a goal] this can become really expensive. £60 a month for a year is £720. That doesn’t include transport etc. Or I can spend the money from the extras on more tickets for shows?
And I am not against merch wearers or buyers. I am loving the support that they give to the theatre industry and those shows in particular. We are all on different paths and all cut according to our cloths. I just feel a bit like merch, as nice and special as it is, is quite an added luxury for the prices they charge and the fact that it is on top of a ticket. Do I think the ticket price should include this merch? No, of course not. But I just don’t tend to visit the merch table when I go.
But do you buy merch from touring shows? Let me know in the comments section and let’s get a discussion going.
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