So said Stranger copy chief Gillian Anderson just now. She had read the paper's glowing review of Pilgrims Sheri and Musa in the New World at ACT Theater and wanted to go. Then she checked the ticket prices.

"Fifty dollars!" she shouted (quietly—Gillian is a soft-spoken person so her shouts sound like the rest of us talking normally).

"That's just on Saturday, right?" I said. "What about a Tuesday?"

"Forty dollars!" she quietly shouted back.

I applaud Seattle theaters for embracing the TeenTix program, which gets the yutes into theaters for cheap. But they've got a whole constituency of middle-aged folks who, like Gillian, are neither young enough nor old-and-rich enough to afford tickets. Just in case you were wondering where all the 30- and 40-somethings (who haven't made a bundle off of the tech boom) were.

To be fair to ACT, I also heard someone a few days ago—not at all a regular theatergoer—say he was contemplating buying an ACT Pass because he likes to see things that he likes more than once. (The ACT pass is an all-you-bear-to-watch-at-our-theater membership for $25 a month, which might just replace subscriptions as an operating model.)

Still, Seattle theaters: If a person can't afford to see your shows, she sure as shit isn't going to give you any money during your next (inevitable) emergency-fundraising campaign.

UPDATE

A week after this post, ACT announced that it's going pay-what-you-can for all shows forevermore. Ask and you shall receive, Gillian!