West Yorkshire Playhouse has been awarded £50,000 to take part in a national scheme to give away free theatre tickets to people under the age of 26.

Under the Arts Council scheme, which starts in February, the theatre will give away 14,000 tickets over two years in the hope that this will encourage the theatre-going habit among the disadvantaged, students, and other young people.

Families who occasionally go to the theatre will also be in the frame.

How the lucky ones are to be chosen has yet to be worked out. What is clear so far is that twenty-somethings involved with the Playhouse’s First Floor theatre space for youngsters will be among those given priority.

Sheena Wrigley, the Playhouse’s general director and joint chief executive, said: “Encouraging young people and their families to experience live theatre is at the core of what we do; this grant will enable us to achieve so much more.

“Absolutely no-one under 26 is excluded. The scheme will be publicised generally and anyone can have access to the tickets. The conditions of the scheme mean they will have to be willing to give evidence of their age and basic personal details such as name and address and date of birth.

“We will have some tickets available for every show within every part of the auditoria. There will be a national and individual Playhouse marketing campaign to get the news out.

“We start detailed planning on how we’ll deliver and market the scheme in the New Year.”