Kevin Spacey: 'Rising theatre ticket prices are driving young people away from West End' What happens when this generation that is currently going to the theatre passes on to the great theatre in the sky? Who is going to replace them? I am embarrassed by the fact that there is such short-sightedness on the heads of producers and theatre directors. Spacey said it was difficult to get decent seats at a West End show unless "you have £115 to spend - and that's not talking about parking, dinner, the babysitting and everything else." He added: "Kids are not going to spend that kind of money. Ticket prices have risen to an average of around £50 for a West End play and £60 for a musical - up by around £20 on a decade ago. However, the innovation of premium seats - a deluxe price band borrowed from Broadway - has pushed the price of some West End tickets through the rafters, prompting accusations that theatres are deceiving customers to boost profits. Premium tickets for a weekend performance of Mamma Mia at the Prince of Wales Theatre cost £95, while the best seats for War Horse at the National Theatre sell for £85 each. Booking through certain agents can force the price over the watershed £100 mark. Industry insiders claim that theatres would not be able to stage productions for any less due to huge operational costs and other factors such as the rise in VAT, royalty fees and credit card commissions. West End theatres enjoyed another bumper year in 2011 taking over £528 million at the box office, the most recent figures from the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) show. Sell-out productions such as Matilda The Musical, Les Miserables, Much Ado About Nothing, War Horse and Jerusalem pushed takings up by up more than three per cent on the previous year, despite overall attendance figures falling over the period. Spacey made the comments as he announced a year-long subsidised ticket scheme for under-25s attending the Old Vic, sponsored by the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. A hundred tickets per performance will be made available to under-25s, priced at £12. Spacey said exposing youngsters to the arts and culture is "enormously valuable," by instilling a better understanding of the world, people, and communication skills. A SOLT spokeswoman said several other theatres offer reduced prices for young people, including Matilda The Musical. The average cost of two tickets in the stalls, interval refreshments and a programme at a leading London show is £4.78 for every five minutes, research by the website Lastminute.com found last year.