The digital landscape can provide us with a seemingly endless world of possibilities to connect with people. A statement that can be as daunting as it is exciting.
We are living in a digital revolution and it wouldn’t be a leap to say digital is reforming the industrial landscape, changing how we operate, how we connect to audiences, our potential reach, and our ability for globalisation. But is this something that all sectors feel is accessible to them?
For some, this is less of a leap but more of a chasm between where they are now and the rich opportunity on the other side. I am talking about the arts and culture sector and, for the first in a series, I will focus on theatre.
In 2023 there are clear avenues for theatres to creatively engage with their audiences online, some of which were formed from need during the turbulence of the pandemic. Some of these have since been adopted as part of a core offering which now reflects a change in the habits of theatre and its audiences. However, this comes with a unique set of challenges that we need to address to ensure the future of the sector.
So let’s explore some of the more major digital challenges faced by theatres today, and some solutions we can put in place to help overcome them.
Declining Attendance?
With the rise of digital entertainment options and streaming platforms, some traditional theatres are experiencing a decline in audience attendance and are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. This may also reflect the economic climate and how we are choosing to spend our money, but this isn’t necessarily reflective of a permanent downturn for theatres. Addressing access challenges through digital solutions can enhance the visitor experience, and boost attendance.
We habitually stream our digital content at home, giving us doorways and windows into other worlds – just like the transportive powers of theatre can – a habit we should look at as a real option for theatre-based productions.
Ella Lewis-Collins, Head of Marketing and Sales, at the Royal Opera House (ROH), explained that streaming now solidly forms part of their audience strategy as a direct response to a change in audience behaviours post-pandemic.
“Stream is now part of our permanent programming. We haven’t seen any negative impact of streaming on attendance to our in-person theatre performances. We know 50% of our Stream subscribers also purchase tickets for shows in our theatres. These are likely to be core audiences who want to relive the experience of seeing their favourite shows and/or want to see different casts performing etc. The other 50% are non-ticket buyers who are likely to be unable to attend due to location – around 40% of our subscribers are international – or for other reasons, including lifestyle or access reasons”
With this evidence, we can start to question how we harness digital as a way of complimenting the in-person experience and start to demote a sense of ‘one over the other’ as there clearly is a place for both. Removing this barrier it is possible to begin to make a complimentary digital strategy possible.
So how can we continue to feed these strategies, once we look into our options and start thinking beyond streaming? Where can the sector look that can elevate these experiences to a performative level?
Embrace Technology for Immersive Experiences
One avenue to explore is immersive technologies. Theatres can embrace technology to offer immersive experiences that go beyond traditional performances. By leveraging virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), theatres can create interactive shows that blur the line between reality and the stage. These technologies have the power to transport audiences to fantastical worlds and engage them in unique ways directly from their home environment.
Giving audiences this level of immersion, transportation, and storytelling could entice new audiences, and tentative pre-existing audiences to return to, or attend a live performance for the first time.
The National Theatre embraced VR technologies to create All Kinds of Limbo. You can even take a peek behind the scenes to see how they pulled this together in a rare “access all areas” pass you wouldn’t get in real life.
When talking about the project, The National Theatre stated that:
“In 2022 All Kinds of Limbo was adapted into an XR (extended reality) broadcast framework allowing audiences worldwide to experience the communal musical performance simultaneously as either VR, AR or a video game format. With the exception of Antarctica, it has now been seen on every continent around the world”
A showcase on using the capabilities to reach further than we ever have done before. Let’s talk more about reach.
Limited Reach and Accessibility
I’ll be the first to admit that there is something nostalgic about visiting the theatre. It’s a treat for all the senses; from feeling the plush of the seats, seeing the house lights come down, hearing the voices project from the stage to the familiar smell of the grand aesthetics, but nostalgia alone isn’t a commercial strategy.
Today theatres face the hurdle of limited reach, making it difficult to attract diverse, new audiences, and expand reach to remote locations.
Ella Lewis-Collins talks about this regarding the ROH when speaking about the important role that digital plays in their reach:
“Digital is an important way for us to reach beyond Covent Garden and grow audiences across the globe. Our streaming platform is now part of our core ROH offer, allowing audiences across the world to experience ROH productions. Digital also provides access to our artforms for people who may not ordinarily be able to engage with us (e.g. those with access requirements, or who live far away). And it opens up the ROH to new potential audiences through reaching them on the channels that they are using, the success of our TikTok channel is a good example of this.
Digital is crucial to our educational mission – allowing us to interact with and bring together schools as part of our learning programmes – and to broadcast adult learning events”
Catering for audience sectors, and giving access is key to broadening the work that theatres do, it’s also good to think about the commerciality of digital programming as forming part of the income strands for theatres – to help with future-proofing.
Live-streaming and On-demand
ROH is in good company when it comes to responding to digital, through necessity, during lockdown. Shakespeare’s Globe took the initiative by launching Globe Player during the pandemic, allowing theatre fans to live-stream performances or watch on-demand from the comfort of their own homes. This was also a lockdown approach adopted by the National Theatre which took their NT Lives into our living rooms; the new destination for our cultural consumption.
A move to online streaming has granted theatres the ability to broadcast to audiences worldwide, reaching a wider demographic whilst introducing an additional revenue stream. Plus, the on-demand element increases accessibility by removing the physical need to attend a show in person, echoed by the ROH.
Digital access can help to break down barriers, and give a deeper insight into a destination with access you wouldn’t get from in-person performances alone:
“Digital also allows us to tell the story of our brand and give access to things that our customers wouldn’t experience through attending a show in person – such as the chance to hear from performers and creatives, get special access to behind the scenes and understand what ROH is doing to develop talent and audiences for the future, through our various programmes”
Ella Lewis-Collins, Head of Marketing and Sales, at the Royal Opera House.
Normalising digital options for marginalised groups or those with barriers to access can keep theatre experiences relevant, and accessible and form part of future-proofing the art form.
So how do we stay relevant?
Engaging Younger Audiences
The younger generation’s shifting interests and preferences present a challenge for traditional theatres in engaging and retaining younger audiences. Almost everything young people consume, and engage with, is on a handheld device.
This can represent a real opportunity. Exploring the idea of a portable, pocket-sized theatre is important to engage with a pipeline of new younger audiences who are a generation of short-form, fast-paced, entertainers and consumers themselves.
This opportunity has the potential to grow audiences and loyalty and can be embraced.
Embrace Social
Theatres can tap into the digital realm by creating digital content that appeals to younger audiences. The National Theatre is using TikTok to reach new generations:
https://www.tiktok.com/@nationaltheatre/video/7173995684176219398
And with 12.6 million views and thousands of comments at the time of writing this article, it’s safe to say that it’s doing the job where engagement is concerned. Brand, destination and relevance can be exploited in these digital forms, showing behind the scenes, real people capitalising on the trends of the moment – showing “we are for you”.
Mark Youth Theatre, Theatre In The Park and Official London Theatre are further examples of others embracing TikTok demonstrating that digital platforms are increasingly forming key parts of the overall marketing strategy.
I think perhaps the largest benefit of leveraging social media platforms and digital marketing strategies, is the ability to grow a community of young theatre enthusiasts, fostering a lasting connection, building loyalty, inspiring new talent and helping theatres to stay relevant.
These are the moments where we can directly engage with our young talent, working alongside youth groups, youth ambassadors and young people collectives to directly feed into the digital strategies to keep peer-to-peer marketing a moment for our young people to obtain real-world experience.
Data Security and Privacy
I understand that digital goes beyond audience engagement and that online ticketing and transactional digital platforms are fundamental to the operations of a theatre.
One of the main concerns in this area is the need to protect sensitive customer data and maintain the privacy of their audience in an increasingly digital environment.
Implementing robust cybersecurity measures sounds daunting, and a bit too close to science fiction, but it is crucial to safeguarding audience data, and maintaining audience trust in this area may not be as out of reach as it sounds.
Doing your research, and speaking to peers within the sector will help you find the right provider for your particular size of theatre and therefore traffic. Sector-specific ticketing and epos systems will be designed with security in mind and often come with a point of contact so you don’t get dropped into the middle of the Minority Report and are expected to know how to get yourselves out.
Conclusion
In my years of working in the arts and culture section, I have learned that it is a generous and supportive space where knowledge sharing is commonplace. Part of what inspired me to start this community in the first place was the refreshing sense of collegiate comradery, where the nuances of the sector are familiar, the challenges are well-known, and the solutions often come through collaboration, sharing and partnerships. It’s always an honour when I partner with a client from the sector knowing we are forming part of a solution by combining our areas of expertise to help future-proof a sector I feel passionate about.
There’s nothing like a knowing look of “I get it” to help ease the anxiety of a new project.
Read the full Q&A with Ella Lewis-Collins.
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Credit: A huge thanks to Katie Lineker for collaborating with me on this article, and for her extended research and editing skills. Photo by Gwen King on Unsplash