Playwrights Horizons Sued Over Discount Tickets For BIPOC Audiences

Playwrights Horizons, one of New York’s premiere Off Broadway theaters and producers, is being sued by a New Jersey musician who claims that the venue’s recent discount offered to people of color is racially discriminatory.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Playwrights Horizons violated federal law when it offered discount tickets for a November 6 “BIPOC night” performance of the play Practice. Tickets, according to the suit, “were massively discounted for patrons who identified as black, indigenous, or people of color. For everyone else—essentially, whites—tickets were full price.”

“Charging people different prices based on race is illegal,” the suit states, alleging that “race-based pricing” violates federal, state and city law.

The lawsuit was facilitated by Edward Blum, who, according to The New York Times, is a nationally known lawyer who leads the American Alliance for Equal Rights, an organization that has filed 21 lawsuits in the last two years challenging affirmative action and other race-based policies.

The plaintiff listed in the suit, Kevin Lynch, is a New Jersey composer, producer and music director. Lynch attended Practice on November 6. The lawsuit says that “because [Lynch] is white, he paid full price. Many other patrons also paid full price for Practice. All are harmed by Playwrights’ discriminatory pricing, and all are entitled to recover.”

The suit seeks class certification on behalf of all ticket buyers who allegedly paid more for tickets than the discounted amount. According to the suit, Lynch bought two tickets to Practice for $90 each. Patrons using the BIPOC night discount code paid $39 a ticket.

The class-action complaint, filed by the conservative Arlington, Va., law firm Consovoy McCarthy, seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages.

In a statement to the New York Times, Playwrights Horizons said, “This is a meritless lawsuit, and Playwrights Horizons intends to defend itself in court.”

The recent practice of inviting people of color to attend specific performances is an attempt by theater companies to diversify their audiences. The highest-profile example was a 2019 “Black Out” performance of the Broadway production Slave Play; a similar promotion was undertaken for London performances of the play last year, drawing controversy.

Practice, written by Nazareth Hassan and directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant, began performances October 30 and ran through December 19. The comedic play focuses on a company of actors cast in an avant-garde performance piece.