by JEFFREY DAY

I was in Charleston last weekend and a friend was leafing through the Piccolo Spoleto schedule looking for a concert or play to attend that night.
"Ow, I though Piccolo was free," she said.

Well, it's not.
Piccolo is the event in Charleston that runs concurrently with the Spoleto Festival USA. The festival brings in international arts groups - from operas to dance companies to jazz performers - with ticket prices ranging from about $15 to $100.
Piccolo is the little festival with a great many South Carolina arts groups, as well as small companies from around the nation. Among the offerings are choral music groups from Asheville and Charlotte, the Charleston Renaissance Ensemble, the Charleston Ballet Theatre, the Mobile (Ala.) Ballet and theater companies from Charleston as well as Virginia and other places..
Piccolo does offer some free events as well as some low-priced shows, like early music concerts for $10 and chamber music for only $6.
But if you want to see theater or dance you'll have to fork out the usual going rates - and sometimes more. Most of those shows run $15 to $20.
For what's being called the "fringe festival," meaning more offbeat stuff that's not part of the main festival, tickets are $15.
As part of the fringe I saw "Tiny Ninja Theatre Presents Macbeth." This consisted of the Shakespeare tragedy performed by 2-inch-tall toy ninja figures. One man moved the little guys around and did all the voices.
It was delightful and inventive and mesmerizing - my favorite "Macbeth" in years.
It also cost $15 to get in and lasted 40 minutes.
I don't begrudge the starving artist money, but $15 is just too much.
The reason for the fairly high price level is that all the theaters are pretty much on their own during Piccolo. They, and the companies they bring in, take the risks, working for the door alone. Then they give 20 percent back to Piccolo, which is operated by the Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs.
If Piccolo is truly going to be a festival for all people, something's gotta give on the prices.
At the big festival this year you could see funny writer David Sedaris, professional talker Kevin Kling, an the original play by Ping Chong or a solo performance by dancer Bill T. Jones for $25 to $30.
Why would you pay $20 for what's a pretty much a community theater production?
It just doesn't add up - although actually it adds up all too quickly.
Piccolo's budget is about $800,000, with about $80,000 of that coming from city and state sources. The rest comes from ticket sales and sponsorships, the latter generating $240,000.
By the way, my friend stayed in and watched the movie "The Tao of Steve."
While that's a great movie, it seems a shame that someone in Charleston during festival time couldn't go out on the town.