Theatre won't be affected by this move

Several plays and standup events are coming up in Chennai. And most tickets are priced at `500 and `1000. But is Modi's 'surgical strike' on these currency notes impacting the on the

theatre

circuit in the city? PC Ramakrishana of The

Madras Players

says, 'I have a play coming up next week and I think people have enough time to exchange their `500 and `1000 notes by then. My ticket prices are generally `100, `200 and `500. If pricing them at `500 is an issue, we will adjust the pricing at the counter itself. For instance, I will charge them `400 instead. But I am sure that I will not accept a `500 note. Theatre is a very small portion of the society and I don't think it will be affected by this move. But if Madras Players runs into any issues because of this move, I am ready to bear the inconvenience because this is a
monumental move.'

S Ve Shekher, whose play is being staged this weekend, says that he has no plans of cancelling the show. 'We are not cancelling any of our shows. Also, there are several platforms which list our events and allow online payment through a gateway. So, most of the tickets are sold online. Even if people are willing to buy the tickets at the venue, we have no qualms about selling it. Either they can give us five 'hundred rupee' notes or choose to give a single `500 note. There is a 50-day window, so we have no issues in exchanging them either. We will have cash transaction machines, too, that will help people buy tickets easily. I don't see it affecting the theatre industry,' he says.

Karthik Kumar of Evam couldn't agree more. He says, 'Today, people don't come to the venue and decide if they want to watch a play or a stand-up show or not. They plan and then come to an event. Also, most of them buy the tickets online. We have very few people who buy tickets at the gate. Most of the 'buying' for entertainment avenues are done online. We are not planning to change our denominations, too. So, I don't see it getting affected. But of course, things might slow down for a few days until people are more aware of how things would work from now on.'

Mathivanan Rajendran of Stray Factory

adds, 'Theatre tickets sales are generally done online. So, we will push for online sales a lot more from now on. That way, we can also monitor the ticket sales better and know how packed our shows are.'