Free Tickets? That's No "Crooked" Offer!

It doesn't really get cooler than this: a thousand ticket giveaway during the previews for Women Project's latest show, a comedy called Crooked. I haven't seen anything by playwright Catherine Trieschmann or director Liz Diamond before, but I trust the name that Women's Project has built up for itself (from on-site shows like The Cataract and transfigures to site-specific work at the World Financial Center).

Here's the information you need:

For the preview period (April 11 through 19) of Women's Project's new show, Catherine Trieschmann's comedy crooked directed by Liz Diamond, 1000 free tickets will be downloaded from the Women's Project web site, www.WomensProject.org.

The logic behind that is simple, according to Artistic Director Julie Crosby: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Recording companies are routinely offering free downloads of cuts from new albums. Television is offering free clips and episodes. Newspapers are offering all their content free. Google is offering everything for free. Women's Project is now offering the free downloading of Off Broadway."

Whether or not this is a sound strategy or not remains to be seen (after all, real downloads, free or not, often come attached to streaming ads and other money-making devices). However, if this doesn't at least get butts in the seats, promote good will and buzz for Women's Project, and generate a brand-new mailing list and sample of the demographics willing to see a show for free (but perhaps not for their current and comparatively cheap Off-Broadway price of $42). The audience is out there; for everyone wondering how to get people there -- young and old alike -- free still seems, to me, like the best way to bring people out. (Just ask anyone who's ever waited in line for Shakespeare in the Park.)