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| A scene from the musical "Billy Elliot" / Courtesy of Seensee Company |
By Park Ji-won
As the COVID-19 vaccination rate increases in Korea, theatrical play and musical production companies, which have been hit hard by the pandemic, have started to offer discounts to vaccinated audiences to promote their shows as the government seeks to introduce a "living with COVID-19" scheme by November, shifting focus to treating serious cases only.
Audiences who received their first COVID-19 vaccine shot could get a 20 percent discount on tickets from Oct. 4 to 22 for the musical "Billy Elliot," which was adapted from the 2000 film of the same title. The musical "Hadestown" will offer a 10 percent discount on some of its seats for the vaccinated, while the musical "Excalibur" will offer a 20 percent discount on tickets until Oct. 8.
The Seoul Arts Center has been providing a 20 percent discount since June on some tickets for people who have received their first vaccine shot. The Sejong Center for the Performing Arts also provides up to a 30 percent discount on tickets for its original shows and exhibitions.
The move came as 76 percent of Korea's population has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine injection and 49 percent have been fully vaccinated as of September.
The government also hinted at the possibility of introducing the "living with COVID-19" scheme in October or early November, when 80 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.
So far, only 70 percent of seats can be filled due to social distancing measures. Many shows can earn a profit only when more than 70 percent of seats are filled. However, as there are few shows that can achieve that goal, with the exception of some musicals, most of them are suffering losses.
"The more musicals we produce, the bigger deficit we end up suffering unless we fill the seats. We are promoting shows with discount prices to prepare for the anticipated living with COVID-19 scheme, which will accompany eased distancing rules and let us have bigger audiences for shows," an official of a production company said.
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