Sudbury Theatre Centre and library team up to offer free tickets

A partnership between the Sudbury Theatre Centre and the Greater Sudbury Public Library is aiming to get more people out to theatre productions.

Theatre tickets are being offered on a first come, first serve basis at six library branches across the city.

All you have to do is go to the library, check out the tickets, and exchange them for theatre tickets at the Sudbury Theatre Centre.

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The goal of the program is to encourage more people out to cultural events, said Jessica Watts, coordinator of outreach, programs and partnerships at the library.

"When we were young, we didn't attend a lot of cultural events," Watts said, "and it's something as I've grown older and as I now have children, I see the benefit of just giving them different experiences and having, learning and participating in different things and what it can bring to your life."

The goal of the program is to encourage those who may not have previously considered attending the theatre, to have that experience said Caleb Marshall, artistic director at the STC.

"Truth is, performing arts are very expensive," Marshall said, "the costs can be too high for some people. Too high to take your first try."

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But the city benefits from having people get involved Marshall said, because once an interest in the arts is ignited, studies show that people remained more engaged in their community.

"Being engaged with the arts makes for more engaged citizens, makes people more active in their community," Marshall said, "So anything we can do to help people have that communal experience of live theatre we're happy to do so."