Here’s a simple but great idea: get more young people into theatres by offering them thousands of free tickets.

I was just at the Royal Exchange buying tickets for True Love Lies when the box officer asked if I was 25 or under. Though I couldn’t lie (I did consider it), he told me about A Night Less Ordinary, a nationwide scheme that launched on Sunday.

They have 50 completely free tickets to give away for each performance of Brad Fraser’s play until 20 February, and then for whatever’s on in the Theatre every Friday – that works out at 10,000 tickets available over the scheme’s two-year duration. And there are two further initiatives: The Guestlist, which is offers a season ticket plus talks, workshops and tours, and The First Stage education programme. The deadline is Thursday so visit the Royal Exchange site now.

A Night Less Ordinary also covers the Library Theatre, Contact, Oldham Coliseum, The Met in Bury and the Bolton Octagon in our immediate area – plus theatres in Halifax, Huddersfield, Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent. Here’s the full list.