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