Marketing for Men
Tue, 22 Nov 2011, 05:03 pmjessmess27 posts in thread
Marketing for Men
Tue, 22 Nov 2011, 05:03 pmSo we all complain that we have a million women auditioning for our plays but never enough men. I'm the first to say, well write for women, but it's not always that easy. My current production 'Flesh Wounds' for example has an even split, male to female with really good roles for either gender. Girls are coming out of the woodwork, but men? I have more auditioning than roles, but certainly not enough to be picky.
Rather than whinge that there aren't enough men in theatre, or that there are two many male roles, I'd like to ask how can we as theatre be more attractive to men? It's hard to stage explosions, car chases and extreme sports, but surely that isn't all men are looking for in escapism?
'Flesh Wounds' for example, has actually been really well received by all the men who have read it, either during it's panel process with the Old Mill, being assessed through Stages, or the reading and workshop we staged later in preparation for the upcoming season.
Unfortunately all those males are either away during the season or have moved to a different city! Otherwise, they have all expressed they would love to play, what I think are really decent male roles.
My question is this, how do we market to men? What are men looking for from their entertainment? How can we convince men that stage plays are worth both auditioning for, and attending?
These aren't rhetorical questions, all you opinionated theatrical men out there--I want real answers. What makes you sit up and say, 'that's the role I want to audition for?
Coming @ You!
Thu, 1 Dec 2011, 04:08 pmWalter Plinge
@Johnny: thanks for the support mate, I think that you have been doing a great job getting new people involved in Theatre for a long time.
@Bree: perhaps you caught me out, I was being a bit vague because I wasn't really sure of the right answer. I think it's perhaps easy to tell what wont work for men. An example being a recently established all female shake spear company, which I'm all for (because there's lots of talented women and barely any good parts for them), but the play itself was marketed for women (set in a fashion-house) who are the people who would come and see it anyway. Best off filling a play with women and marketing it for men. Traditionally plays written by women or staring women have been categorized as plays about 'women's issues' where as plays with male protagonists are seen as general, and almost never seen as 'male' plays. This is because plays with female protagonists often are solely aimed at women, when female writers want to write generally they write male protagonists. I believe that the opposite is also true. We can write and perform plays with women that are intended for male audiences. They'll have to be funny, but take men seriously; they need to contain strong and likeable male characters. They need to be active, not conversational; and they need to have relevant conflict, not conflict over who's hair looks better. Is that more specific?
@Jeff: Musicals may be written by the men (because female writers are horrendously under-represented) but they are aiming their plays at middle-aged women audiences. That's the kind of change that needs to happen.
@Lee: Very true, and a testament to the community that has been built here.
@Jess: With Northanger, we played up the horror, sideburns and empire waistlines. We just wanted the women who were coming to bring their men with them. It was more a play we aimed at young people than men, though it was on our mind.