1m free tickets to lure young into theatres

£2.5 million free tickets scheme to get more young people into theatres is being unveiled today.

Nearly 100 venues including the National Theatre and Young Vic are set to take part in the initiative, which aims to tackle a decline in audiences among 18- to 26-year-olds.

A million tickets are set to be provided by March 2011.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has devised the scheme as part of his department's bid to widen public access to the arts.

The Government has already introduced free admission to national museums and galleries and plans six hours of culture for children in schools every week.

Announcing details today, Mr Burnham will say: "Every venue manager knows that the hardest group to attract to theatre productions is young people after they've left home and before they settle down. But I believe they're missing out on a really fulfilling experience.

"Our aim is to offer young people a really first-class encounter, showing that theatre-going is a brilliant experience.

"This won't be about fobbing young people off with unsellable tickets for niche productions, nor will it cram the whole offer into a single frantic weekend."

The initiative will be launched in February and run for the next two years of the spending round - with a commitment to continue.

Venues taking part will have to guarantee free seats for young people across the whole two-year period on the same night each week. The commercial West End will not be included but theatres supported by the Arts Council and local authorities will.

The eventual aim will be to have similar ticket offers for dance, music and other art forms.

The inspiration for the scheme was a review by former Edinburgh International Festival boss Brian McMaster. He recommended publicly funded arts organisations should offer entire weeks of work free to attract new audiences.

This is a variation on that idea, after some organisations criticised it as impractical.