The Living Ticket

The Short Version

No financial transaction is required to attend Fear & Wonder. Instead, you’re invited to reserve a “Living Ticket” and then make a donation, informed by Flux’s commitment to reaching a living wage for all artists and staff.

In a hurry? Reserve your Living Ticket and give at the rate that works for you.:

-$26 per ticket to support our Current Budget (NYC minimum wage);

-$53 per ticket for our Living Wage Budget (per MIT);

-$66 per ticket for our Holistic Wage Budget, which includes compensation for unpaid volunteer administrative labor by Creative Partners.

Or zero dollars, if that's where you're at. Together, we can help everyone access the arts while providing dignified lives for all workers, including theatre workers!

The Long Version

We’re proud to say that Fear & Wonder represents the third Flux production where all our contributors are making an hourly minimum wage (or equivalent fee). This was a longtime goal for Flux, and we’re grateful to every foundation and individual donor who made it possible. If we sell out every seat at an average of $26 per ticket, we'll make the Current Budget of  Fear & Wonder without dipping into our reserve funds. 

Yet we know a minimum wage is not enough. As part of our Core Value of Collective Care, Flux is committed to ensuring all of our collaborators’ financial needs are met, and that means working toward a living wage, using the MIT Living Wage Calculator as an estimate.  If we sell out every seat at an average of $53 per ticket, we'll make our Living Wage Budget and increase compensation levels for every collaborator working directly on Fear & Wonder.

Many of our Creative Partners, however, volunteer many hours of unpaid labor to support Flux's overall operations and the production of Fear & Wonder. We estimate around 420 hours of volunteer Creative Partner labor will go into making Fear & Wonder possible. If we sell out every seat at an average of $66 per ticket, we'll make our Holistic Wage Budget and ensure that every Creative Partner is compensated, increasing the longterm health of our ensemble.

FAQs

When did the Living Ticket begin? Beginning with our production of Salvage in April 2015, no financial transaction is required to attend a Flux performance. You can reserve your Living Ticket online, or obtain it in-person at the show (space permitting).  Money is no longer a barrier to entry for any Flux production! 

So all Flux shows are free? Yes, and not exactly. We don’t use the word free, because it costs us quite a bit to create these productions: in material costs, in rentals, and above all, in the work of the people making this show for you. It isn’t free, but it doesn’t cost you anything to attend—it’s a Living Ticket, so if you want the work Flux does to live, we encourage you to support Flux however you can. 

So is this just Pay What You Can? Yes, and not exactly. We don’t use that phrase because we want the Living Ticket to be an ongoing relationship of mutual support, not a one-time transaction, and we define mutual support more broadly than just show me the money. But until our political system fully supports everyone's material needs, a Living Ticket helps our workers live.

But what if I can’t give financially? First, by showing up and participating in our productions, you’re already giving the most precious thing any of us have: time. Thank you. If you’re inspired to give more, and money isn’t an option right now, we encourage you to give in other ways: by inviting more people to come see the show (you’re our marketing budget), by volunteering at tech or the box office, by participating in our various play and community development programs (artists and non-artists are equally welcome).

So is the goal of the Living Ticket to pay artists more, or to remove the financial barrier to attendance? Yes and yes and much more than that. The goals of the Living Ticket program are:

  • To remove all financial barriers to attendance at Flux shows;
  • To ensure our collaborative community is truly representative of the city we love;
  • To sustain long-term relationships with our community through ticketing and donor systems based on transparency and mutual support;
  • To provoke an honest, transparent conversation about compensation, living wages and theatre people beyond the false binaries of producer vs artist;
  • To work in solidarity with other movements advocating for cultural accessibility and ethical compensation;
  • To assert that the not-for-profit movement exists to create alternative models of communal value, and not merely mimic for-profit structures;
  • To make Flux’s Living Ticket feel just as magical as a Golden Ticket!

How did this all come about?

We're so glad you stuck around to ask that question. First, we want to acknowledge that the Living Ticket is in conversation with the generations of theatre-makers who have tried similar approaches, from the food-for-plays genesis of the Barter Theatre to Joe Papp's vision of Shakespeare for everyone to Mixed Blood's Radical Hospitality program. Second, we want to acknowledge that the name "Living Ticket" came from the amazing Stephanie Willing, who coined it as part of a Friends of Flux brainstorming session at one of our SpeakEasys. Third, the impetus for this grew out of our 2014 Annual Retreat, where we felt we had to align our marketing and ticketing strategies with our Core Values--and that if we did, it might not only be transformative for Flux, but could serve as a useful model for others.