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Matinee Sessions

Sat, 18 Aug 2012, 07:20 pm
Johnny Grim9 posts in thread
Seeking thoughts on the setting of times for traditional Sunday matinee sessions. It seems 2PM is a common start time for matinee sessions, however, I'm considering trialling a 5PM timeslot for our October production. My view is that theatre should be considered a 'night on the town' and 2PM hardly fits that bill..5PM would in effect, achieve the objective, whilst serving the early home, early to bed requirement of some patrons. Note: It's fair to say the above depends on the production, Agatha Christie may well suit the 2PM timeslot...I'll be interested to hear people's thoughts on this...if you were the patron would you select an afternoon on the town, or an evening? cheers Johnny Grim

Depends on target audience

Sun, 19 Aug 2012, 09:08 am
I think most people associate a matinee with day time rather than early evening, but it also depends on who your target audience is. When Harbour first started offering matinee's (at 2pm) a few years ago, they were poorly attended initially. Now they are very popular with some of our elderly (& not so elderly) patrons who like to get back home before dark. Our 2 most popular sessions lately have been Sunday matinee & Wednesday evenings. In my opinion, matinee's would suit the elderly & families with young children. If neither are your target group, then I would stick with evening performances. Now whether the evening performance starts at 5pm, 7pm, or 8pm, that is another question... Ciao Rob

Thread (9 posts)

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