Drama is costly entertainment than Cinema

I was interested in going for a drama over the weekend just to kill the routine of going to cinema. So I made an effort to call and check up about the availability of tickets for the "Chocolate Krishna" drama by Crazy Mohan troupe.  The drama was happening at PT Thyagaraja A/C auditorium on the GN Chetty Road, T Nagar.  I got a shock of my life when I was told that the minimum ticket is Rs200/- and it goes on like this Rs350/-, Rs500/- and Rs1000/-.  It is definitely out of reach of an ordinary middle class family.  The total cost would be around Rs600/- for 3 persons excluding travel and food for 3 hours of drama. 

Compare it to a cinema in any of the City theatres excluding the Sathyam's and Inox's.  The average ticket is in the range of Rs40/- to Rs50/- for an airconditioned 3 hour show.  There is also a government regulation which makes it mandatory to sell a small portion of the ticket at Rs10/- or so as well.  Though it is very uncomfortable watching it from Rs10/- seat, there are people who still buy these tickets.  The total cost comes to Rs180/- for 3 persons excluding travel and food for 3 hours of Cinema.  

I agree stage dramas involve more effort on the part of the artists and it cant be replicated across various theatres in one go like cinema, but the very high prices really kills the enthusiasm for going to drama.  The guys in drama needs to seriously look at it else tamil drama may not be there after 15 years or so.  They can look at the possibility of telecasting live the drama which happens in Chennai using the VSAT or some technology to a theatre in Madurai or so to increase the revenue for them.  Just thinking wild!!