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Audience Engagement

Content in this section centers one crucial aspect of theatremaking: the audience. How do theatremakers identify and attract the right audience for a particular work? What are the different levels of engagement, from simple spectatorship to participation? Amrita Ramanan’s 2013 series gathers thoughts from leaders in the field and is a great place to start, as are videos from Theatre Communications Group’s 2015 Audience (R)Evolution Convening.

The Latest

The Virtuosity of Black Storytelling with Tarell Alvin McCraney
Podcast
The Virtuosity of Black Storytelling with Tarell Alvin McCraney
by Jordan Ealey, Leticia Ridley, Tarell Alvin McCraney
6 March 2024
Towards a Sustainable Theatre Model
Essay
Towards a Sustainable Theatre Model
by Scott Walters, Munroe Shearer
27 February 2024
Can’t Do Theatre by Yourself
Essay
Can’t Do Theatre by Yourself
by Christin Eve Cato, Jorge Piña
23 January 2024
Building Your Identity and Fan Base Like a Metal Band
Essay

Building Your Identity and Fan Base Like a Metal Band

13 July 2015

In this installation, Seth Lepore compares theatre artists to metal bands, and realizes theatre artists have a lot they can learn.

Value Set at $200/hour
Essay

Value Set at $200/hour

Money Lab and the Patronage Auction

28 June 2015

Edward Einhorn on the economics of Money Lab and what it taught him about the relationship of art and money.

A High Touch Theatrical Experience for a High Tech World
Essay

A High Touch Theatrical Experience for a High Tech World

17 June 2015

Joseph Pindelski describes the “high touch” and “high tech” audience engagement experiences The Goodman created for Regina Taylor’s stop. reset.

The Taylor Swift Brand of Community Engagement
Essay

The Taylor Swift Brand of Community Engagement

4 May 2015

Cortney McEniry explores Taylor Swift’s method of engaging her fans, and how theatre companies can step out of the spotlight to really connect with members of their community.

When the Gods Choose a Different Play Each Night
Essay

When the Gods Choose a Different Play Each Night

Designing for Interactive Theatre

5 April 2015

Lighting designer Megan Reilly outlines the process of designing for production with twelve possible iterations.

Theatre Communications Group's 2015 Audience (R)Evolution Convening
Video

Theatre Communications Group's 2015 Audience (R)Evolution Convening

Wednesday 25 March to Friday 27 March 2015
Kansas City, MO, United States

Theatre Communications Group's 2015 Audience (R)Evolution Convening livestreamed from Kansas City on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Wednesday 25 March to Friday 27 March. In Twitter, follow @TCG@HowlRoundTV, and use hashtag #AudRev15.

New Plays by the Numbers
Essay

New Plays by the Numbers

Is Boston a Hidden Hub of New Work?

20 March 2015

Patrick Gabridge gives a run down of the results of the New England New Play Alliance's study on new play development and attendance in the Greater Boston region. 

Audience Participation
Essay

Audience Participation

Do Taylor Mac et al Tickle or Terrify?

5 February 2015

"Audience participation" is a vague term, like much of theatrical terminology; it has come to mean different things to different people... What happens when the audience participates by becoming performers—without volunteering to do so?

Don’t Let This Happen to You
Essay

Don’t Let This Happen to You

Creating Effective Post-Show Discussions

25 January 2015

Teresa Fisher, who recently wrote a book on post-show discussions, presents helpful suggestions how to structure and facilitate effective post-show discussions.

Bringing Theatre into the Digital Age
Essay

Bringing Theatre into the Digital Age

23 January 2015

Jeni Incontro encourages the theatre industry to change the business model by embracing technology, filming performances, and giving theatregoers the option of watching whenever they’d like.

logos for TDF and Theatre Bay Area.
Triple Play Project: A Convening of Theatre Practitioners to Discuss The Relationship Between Playwrights, Theatres & Audiences
Video

Triple Play Project: A Convening of Theatre Practitioners to Discuss The Relationship Between Playwrights, Theatres & Audiences

Friday 16 January and Saturday 17 January 2015
Boston, MA, United States

Theatre Development Fund and Theatre Bay Area announced the culmination of the eighteen‐month Triple Play Project with a convening of theatre practitioners from throughout the U.S. livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 16 January and Saturday 17 January 2015 from Emerson College.

You Know That Audience We Rarely Reach? It Really Wants to Talk
Essay

You Know That Audience We Rarely Reach? It Really Wants to Talk

14 January 2015

Mark Blankenship discusses Triple Play, an initiative exploring what artists and administrators can do to entice casual ticket buyers to see more new plays.

Photo from Western Society.
Empathy for our (often) Ridiculous Culture
Essay

Empathy for our (often) Ridiculous Culture

Gob Squad’s Western Society

25 November 2014

Cory Hinkle writes about Western Society from the British-German collective Gob Squad, and its multi-media, audience-involving production that investiages wish fulfillment, starting with the recreation of "one of the least watched videos on the Internet".

Making the Residency Work for You
Essay

Making the Residency Work for You

Robert O’Hara, Playwright-in-Residence at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

12 October 2014

Commons Producer Ronee Penoi interviews Robert O’Hara, Playwright-in-Residence at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington, DC.

Celebrating the Audience
Essay

Celebrating the Audience

Approaches to Participatory Performance

27 July 2014

In his essay, Josh Sobel investigates interactive theatre.

A person waving out of a window.
Community Building with the Chicago Home Theater Festival
Essay

Community Building with the Chicago Home Theater Festival

24 June 2014

Dani Snyder-Young writes about the 2014 Chicago Home Theater Festival, which places participatory performances inside private homes.

24th TCG National Conference
Video

24th TCG National Conference

Thurday 19 June - Saturday 21 June 2014
San Diego, CA, United States

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) presented 24th TCG National Conference: Crossing Borders, in San Diego, California livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thurday 19 June - Saturday 21 June.

The Twitter logo.
Twitter Chat Topic
Essay

Twitter Chat Topic

Theatermakers, What's Your Relationship to Your Audience?

17 June 2014

This week's conversation topic is "What's Your Relationship to Your Audience?" and will be moderated by Ian Hylands @8inky—who like all of our moderators, authors, and content producers—self-selected to peer-produce on this commons-based platform! This hour-long Howl will take place on Thursday, June 19 on hashtag #newplay at 11am PDT (Vancouver) / 1pm CDT (Austin) / 2pm EDT (Toronto) / 18:00 GMT / 7pm BST (London).

The Twitter logo.
Twitter Chat Topic
Essay

Twitter Chat Topic

"How To Sell a Play No One Has Heard of"—Thurs, May 22

19 May 2014

This week's conversation topic is "How To Sell a Play No One Has Heard of" and will be moderated by Alan Katz @dcdramaturg—who like all of our moderators, authors, and content producers—self-selected to peer-produce on this commons-based platform! This hour-long Howl will take place on Thursday, May 22 on hashtag #newplay at 11am PDT (Vancouver) / 1pm CDT (Austin) / 2pm EDT (Toronto) / 18:00 GMT / 7pm BST (London).

The Twitter logo.
Twitter Chat Topic
Essay

Twitter Chat Topic

Curtain Calls & Curtain Speeches: Why, How, and When Do You Do It?—Thurs, May 15

12 May 2014

This week's conversation topic is "Curtain Calls & Curtain Speeches: Why, How, and When Do You Do It?" and will be moderated by Annie Paladino @anniepaladino and Zhenya Lavy @ZhenyaLavy—who like all of our moderators, authors, and content producers—self-selected to peer-produce on this commons-based platform! This hour-long Howl will take place on Thursday, May 15 on hashtag #newplay at 11am PDT (Vancouver) / 1pm CDT (Austin) / 2pm EDT (Toronto) / 18:00 GMT / 7pm BST (London).

Playwrights in the Community—Building Momentum at South Coast Repertory
Essay

Playwrights in the Community—Building Momentum at South Coast Repertory

20 April 2014

Kelly Miller offers insight on how the South Coast Repertory has supported and engaged with playwrights to develop compelling theatre in Orange County. 

A Romanian political rally.
Postcards from Romania
Essay

Postcards from Romania

Crossing the Audience Border

24 March 2014

I sit in theaters today and I question who this contemporary audience is and if they find themselves represented onstage. The demographics of the audience are different, theater to theater, town to town; the National Theater attracts older audience members who go to be seen, the independent spaces usually play towards a younger crowd, similar to the Broadway, independent and regional audiences in the US. But the one unifying factor is that the work isn’t made for the audience, it’s made for the artist.

Photo from HIR.
The Theater Was Ours
Essay

The Theater Was Ours

Next Gen Nights and Hir at the Magic Theatre

21 March 2014

 looks at how Magic Theatre's initative for young theatre-goes went beyond a discount, and how the premiere of Taylor Mac's Hir at the Magic complemented their earlier production of Buried Child.

Audience Development as a Communal Experience
Essay

Audience Development as a Communal Experience

19 March 2014

The twenty-first century American theater is a communal experience where artists and audiences are bound in an existence which deems them equal parts subject, spectator and benefactor. Moving beyond traditions of privilege, subscriptions, access and pricing; the contemporary American Theater emerges as a necessary cultural commodity of storytelling. At ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage, we are fully aware of this paradigm shift and we welcome it, seeing it as the bedrock for our audience development goals.

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Stage Kiss panel curated by Sarah Ruhl at Playwrights Horizons
Video

Stage Kiss panel curated by Sarah Ruhl at Playwrights Horizons

Monday 17 March 2014
New York, NY, United States

Playwrights Horizons presented the panel discussion On Kisses and Chemistry: A Discourse on Stage Kiss featuring Stage Kiss playwright Sarah Ruhl, actor Hamish Linklater, psychologist/expert on couples & sexuality Esther Perel, and actress Kathleen Chalfant, moderated by psychiatrist Tony Charuvastra, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 17 March at 3:30 p.m. PST/ 5:30 p.m. CST/ 6:30 p.m. EST/ 22:30 GMT. To submit questions for ending Q&A and participate in online conversation, follow @PHnyc and use hashtag #stagekisspanel.