Audiences: Friends or strangers
Mon, 30 July 2001, 06:24 pmGambler9 posts in thread
Audiences: Friends or strangers
Mon, 30 July 2001, 06:24 pmIt seems to me these days that the majority of theatre audiences are either fellow actors, friends or Pensioners (or a combination of them). Does this mean that Stage performances are a dying phase? Before television, computers, game machines and movie cinemas the theatre was the place to be. Now it is only for a minority of society. Any thoughts?
Drinking to old friends
Wed, 1 Aug 2001, 12:30 am'lo old friend
:-)
i too agree with much of what Dave has to say.
> "All traditions started out as radical innovations"
well, except for the occasional hyperbole. but who am i to talk?
;-)
> Traditional theatre spaces are a block to non traditional theatre > audiences (and the reverse is also true).
or put another way - know your market.
I think Dave's examples are skewed by his personal experience, but that doesn't negate the fact that they demonstrate new audiences for new work can be found.
I tend to think that a more significant factor that causes difficulty in attracting and retaining new audiences is the fractured performing arts market and a lack of any coherent, co-operative marketing strategy.
If you go to a show at any of our major theatre companies, do you find any details in their programmes of what other companies are doing? Try visiting their websites. Most of them don't even include links to each other.
What image or impression are they conveying to audiences? Like our dear friend Banks @ the West, they convey a notion that theatre is something you pop along to once in a blue moon because it's such an infrequent event.
This site encourages every one to work together to promote each other's work. It gives an impression of a very busy, thriving network of committed and passionate individuals presenting an extraordinary breadth of performance styles - traditional, non- tradtitional, classic, new and every conceivable shade in between. Hopefully something for all potential markets.
Perhaps this is an apprpriate moment to suggest that companies using the site consider including a small credit somewhere in their posters, flyers or programmes
www.theatre.asn.au
By sending people back to this site for more information you generate audiences for each other that will hopefully return to your own company when next you perform - and they'll know what you're doing next because they're checking here.
Cheers
Grant
:-)
i too agree with much of what Dave has to say.
> "All traditions started out as radical innovations"
well, except for the occasional hyperbole. but who am i to talk?
;-)
> Traditional theatre spaces are a block to non traditional theatre > audiences (and the reverse is also true).
or put another way - know your market.
I think Dave's examples are skewed by his personal experience, but that doesn't negate the fact that they demonstrate new audiences for new work can be found.
I tend to think that a more significant factor that causes difficulty in attracting and retaining new audiences is the fractured performing arts market and a lack of any coherent, co-operative marketing strategy.
If you go to a show at any of our major theatre companies, do you find any details in their programmes of what other companies are doing? Try visiting their websites. Most of them don't even include links to each other.
What image or impression are they conveying to audiences? Like our dear friend Banks @ the West, they convey a notion that theatre is something you pop along to once in a blue moon because it's such an infrequent event.
This site encourages every one to work together to promote each other's work. It gives an impression of a very busy, thriving network of committed and passionate individuals presenting an extraordinary breadth of performance styles - traditional, non- tradtitional, classic, new and every conceivable shade in between. Hopefully something for all potential markets.
Perhaps this is an apprpriate moment to suggest that companies using the site consider including a small credit somewhere in their posters, flyers or programmes
www.theatre.asn.au
By sending people back to this site for more information you generate audiences for each other that will hopefully return to your own company when next you perform - and they'll know what you're doing next because they're checking here.
Cheers
Grant
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