Playwrights Horizons to Offer Childcare During Performances of Kin

Playwrights Horizons will launch a new program offering on-site professional childcare during three matinee performances of its forthcoming production of Bathsheba Doran’s Kin. This first-of-its-kind program, dubbed “Playtime!,” will be available to toilet-trained children ages four to 12 at the February 27, March 20 and April 2 matinees.

“The combined cost of theater tickets and childcare is the factor most often cited by people with young children as the reason they rarely attend the theater,” Playwrights Horizons managing director Leslie Marcus said in a statement. “By offering affordable childcare during performances, we are responding to this concern and hope to welcome back these audiences.”

With “Playtime!,” children enjoy a fun, artistic experience (learning a dance or song, making a craft project or participating in other activities) in an upstairs rehearsal studio while their parents see Kin. The off-Broadway company has teamed up with Sitters Studio, a bonded and insured company made up of sitters who are working artists, which will operate the program. "Playtime!" is free to Playwrights Horizons subscribers and available to non-subscribers for a flat fee of $15 per child.

The new babysitting program is made possible with funds from the Theater Subdistrict Council (TSC), which administers grants with the goal of developing new audiences, promoting the production of new theater work and showcasing Broadway’s singular role in the history of American theater.