Top-notch theater for $10? Wilma 'WynTix' coming this year

In her recent piece on the role of the theater critic in promoting diversity onstage, Wendy Rosenfield praised the Wilma Theater as an example of a local institution that, without fanfare or diversity festivals, is an equal-opportunity stage. And the Wilma recently announced its latest foray into broadly accessible theater: “Wilma WynTix — Big Theater. Small Prices.”

For the next three seasons, beginning this fall, a special grant from the Wyncote Foundation will subsidize all ticket prices for each of the Wilma’s shows. That means $25 tickets for the general public (about half the regular price) and $10 tickets for students and members of the theater industry for every performance of the regular four-week run of every mainstage show (any extended runs of the productions will revert to normal ticket prices).

“This initiative is based on the belief that artistic encounters are meant to be experienced by all,” the Wilma said in a statement about the new program, adding that arts organizations have a responsibility to reach as deeply as possible into all types of communities and have those communities reflected on stage: “Wilma productions will continue to represent a range of voices, viewpoints, and styles.”

Coming up

According to managing director James Haskins, these subsidized tickets will be available for subscribers as well as one-show buyers. And artistic director Blanka Zizka has announced a 2014/2015 season including Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn, the new play The Body of an American by Dan O’Brien, and back-to-back productions of Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (which will be the Wilma’s 11th Tom Stoppard show).

And modern Shakespeare fans are sure to be looking forward to Zizka’s Hamlet, which will star Zainab Jah, a Wilma veteran and African-American woman, in the title role.

Wilma WynTix subscriptions for next season will go on sale March 19 at the kick-off preview of Paula Vogel’s Philly-centric world premiere, Don Juan Comes Home from Iraq, and single WynTix sales to the general public will begin July 1. The Wilma Theater is at the corner of Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia. For more information, call 215-546-7824 or visit https://wilmatheater.org/.