Bryn Terfel as Wotan in the Metropolitan Opera’s Das Rheingold. Image via www.fact.co.uk
There are a variety of reasons why some people – even those who identify as ‘interested non-attenders’ – don’t become regular arts audiences. Some may be nervous about engaging with an art form they see as the exclusive domain of the privileged; others may believe the experience is out of their price range, too far out of their way to attend, or even too intellectually challenging.
Here, we examine some of the most common myths and misconceptions about not engaging with the arts, and provide reasoned counter-arguments from arts insiders as to why such arguments may not hold water.
‘I won’t understand it’
The idea that work might be too intellectually taxing or challenging and that an audience member ‘simply won’t get it’ is one that is routinely faced by contemporary arts practitioners across a variety of forms.
Dancehouse Artistic Director and CEO, Angela Conquet said: ‘In contemporary dance, we are always faced with the audience anxiety of “not getting it”. In a sense, it is easy to understand – dance does not rely on a text/narrative to prompt the imagination and sometimes it requires a certain mode of engaging with the work; its effect can be less immediate than a theatre or comedy show.
‘To add to that, the recent, more conceptual edge of some purely abstract choreographic works, blending multiple philosophical and visual arts references can dissuade audiences from even trying to give it a go. However, these behavioural patterns are by no means disconnected from the way we live today. Our world is fast and elicits prompt reaction. Everything has to be “understandable” so as to be able to position oneself, hence make decisions fast.
‘We no longer allow ourselves the space to not know (but take the time to look deeper into it) or to accept that some things (by excellence poetry and dance very often) are meant primarily for the senses. We have become entrenched in our pragmatism and efficiency systems; we want to get it and fast. Because it is easier that way, more reassuring, more tangible. We do not authorise ourselves to be curious, to simply wonder, to simply not get it, to simply let go and feel it – with all that that implies (being a little needled, challenged, troubled),’ she continued.
‘As much as art is in general a collective experience/ritual, it is very much as well a place and a moment where you are ultimately alone with yourself – and that goes for all art forms. And you may not like what you find when you are alone with one’s self. Besides, dance is, like many non-text-based art forms always attached to multiple meanings and never a single “prescribed” one. It is a particular kind of exercise (but after all “the mind is a muscle” – thank you Yvonne Rainer) and as long as people don’t resist it, it is in general a great ride … It can remind you [that] you are alive. And a single movement can sometimes encapsulate a world,’ said Conquet.
‘I can’t afford it’
One of the commonest barriers preventing people from engaging with the performing arts is the cost of tickets – and the associated costs of paying for parking, a babysitter and sundry related expenses which collectively can add up to a very expensive night out.
Offsetting this, many companies offer special discounts – whether for arts insiders, as per the Malthouse Theatre’s Arts Industry Initiative – or for audience-members under 30 and young people generally, who are catered for by a wide range of subsidised tickets across the sector.
But as Liz Jones, Artistic Director at Carlton’s iconic La Mama Theatre argues, a night out doesn’t have to be expensive.
‘That constant bleat, “I can’t afford live theatre,” when inspected closely doesn’t really hold water. For there is La Mama where tickets prices are kept as low as seems fair to the artists performing, and always with one eye on movie prices as a bench mark. Once at the venue tea and coffee are free and if you can afford a drink it’s pub prices! And the theatre’s usually pretty good too,’ said Jones.
‘Elsewhere there is Half-tix, daily rush tickets, under 30’s youth tix, preview prices…..and so on. You just have to use your initiative,’ she added.
Another program intended to ensure theatre is widely accessible is the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC)’s Sharing the Light initiative, supported by the Crown Resorts Foundation, which will provide up to 10,000 disadvantaged students each year with $5 theatre tickets, as well as covering travel costs for outlying schools; Sharing the Light will also provide disadvantaged families from the outer suburbs with $5 tickets to family shows.
‘There was some Arts Victoria research recently, and I think they’re building on it, for people in the outer suburbs who weren’t coming to the city,’ said MTC Executive Director Virginia Lovett.
‘So what we identified was that we would look at trying to attract the outer suburban family groups into seeing our family shows. So that $5 subsidy would go to that. But that is also on top of … the existing youth ticket of … $36 for anyone under 30. And then we’ve also always offered $19 day seats for fulltime students and eligible concession holders, and also and always cheap tickets through schools through our Education program, but that’s been enhanced obviously through the Crown Resorts Foundation and the $5 tickets,’ Lovett said.
‘It’s too elitist’
The assumption that certain art forms such as opera, ballet and classical music are only for the privileged is a common one. Opera Australia do their best to dispel this myth with a marketing strategy that includes an E-Guide sent to audience members on the day of the performance, covering everything from this history and origins of the opera in question to what to wear to the theatre:
‘Most of us aren’t regulars on the ball circuit and don’t have a tuxedo or a fur coat stashed away to pull out for the opera. Trust us – that doesn’t matter … Look around the theatre and you’ll see women in cocktail dresses, men in chinos, corporates in business suits, families in their Sunday best and tourists in whatever-they-were-wearing-that-day. There’s no compulsory dress code – wear what you’ll feel comfortable in.’
Nor should people feel uncomfortable or out of place when attending performances of classical music, said Bridget O’Brien, Deputy General Manager, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.
‘The Brandenburg audience is drawn from all ages, interests and backgrounds, from first time visitors to life-long patrons. We engage with our very diverse audience in a number of ways, which allows our audience to approach us in a way that suits them. This includes behind-the-scenes insights through our social media platforms, broadcast of our live concerts on ABC radio, utilising a range of ticket pricing including discounts for students and free community concerts through our Access ABO program, and the very popular “What To Listen For” sections in our concert programs,’ she said.
‘We’ve been told by many of our international guest artists that the Brandenburg performs and interprets the music in a uniquely Australian way, which is open and friendly. Paul and the musicians actively engage with the audience from the stage and that helps remove the formality, taking away some of the barriers that often exist in classical music performances.’
‘I don’t have the time’
In our time-poor age, when everyone is trying to squeeze increasingly more activity into 24 hours, making time to experience live performance can certainly be a challenge for some. But when the average stand-up comedy production is a tight one-hour show, the lack of time argument starts to look a trifle weak, said comedian Andrew McClelland, whose show Overdressed and Underwhelmed can be seen as part of Sydney Comedy Festival next week.
‘Whenever a well-meaning friend tells me that they’re sorry they couldn’t make it to my show I can’t help but think; “Fair enough, it was only on for 23 consecutive nights.” Of course it’s very possible that you don’t have the time to make it to an hour-long show within a 23 night period, but if that is the case I worry for your sanity. You need less job and/or children as soon as possible. I reckon going to a show might calm you down,’ McClelland quipped.
Also performing at the Sydney Comedy Festival (with puppet colleague Randy) is comedian Sammy J, who as the parent of a young child has personal experience with being time-poor.
‘I actually think comedy/fringe festivals are designed specifically for time poor punters, since shows are traditionally an hour or shorter – not like the four-hour ordeal of the opera. This means you can finish work, grab a bite to eat, and still arrive at the venue with time to grab a cheap beer at the bar before the show – not like the overpriced Sauvignon Blanc of the opera,’ Sammy J told ArtsHub.
‘On a serious note, as the father of a toddler, I sympathise with this argument – apart from doing my own show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, I hardly got to see anything else this year. But I find booking ahead, with time to sort out a babysitter or arrange for friends to join you, is the best way of making sure you don’t become an artistic hermit. I’ve recently subscribed to the MTC in Melbourne also, which means I have to put several dates in the calendar for the year ahead and helps me get out of the house. No opera, I hasten to add,’ he said.
When even an hour-long show feels like too much of a drain on your time, the intimate short performances at a festival such as Perth’s Proximity are ideal.
Co- Curator of Proximity Festival, Kelli McCluskey, told ArtsHub: ‘I think the idea that people don’t have time to experience a performance is often clouded with other kinds of fears. For Proximity it is mainly the sense of unknowingness; what is going to happen in the interaction? What will be expected of me as an audience member? None of this is revealed until you say yes and walk into the room. We assume that this can be quite confronting for people as it is asking them to go beyond their usual comfort zones. What we are actually finding is that it is totally exhilarating for audiences and they enjoy the sense of agency and empowerment it provides them. So the challenge for us becomes more about how to dispel those myths and assumptions about one-on-one work.
‘There is also the much broader issue of where the arts sit in the hearts and minds of the Australian public in terms of value. Do we have time is maybe more along the lines of “do I value it enough to give it time?” And this is where we maybe fall short as an industry, because in my opinion we are notoriously bad at advocating for ourselves, especially when it comes to talking about the economic benefits of the arts in society. I would love for us to feel confident enough to shout from the rooftops that without art there is no breathing space for the soul and that it matters to give time to potentially transformative art experiences. Making time to deal with that might need to come first,’ she said.
‘I don’t have anyone to go with’
A recent study by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in the USA identified the opportunity to socialise with friends or family as one of the major factors encouraging people’s engaged with the arts. Conversely, a significant barrier preventing people’s participation in arts activity (identified by 22% of respondents) is having no one to attend events with.
Consequently, by creating opportunities for engagement and social bonding such as Q and As with artists and actors and other opportunities to interact with staff and fellow audience members, arts organisations can help interested non-attendees make the leap into becoming active and engaged audience members. As Suzanne Callahan wrote for Dance USA last month: “People will feel like they have someone to go with, because they feel connected to others in the theater before and after events. In turn, they will feel more comfortable with accessing the venues, audience, and art form.”
On the subject of social engagement, Kristy Mayhew, Marketing Manager at Griffin Theatre Company, said ‘There [are] a healthy number of singles that buy individual tickets to our shows, due, we can only assume, to the friendly, cosy vibe of the Stables. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever been in our foyer; it’s relaxed and welcoming, and people feel comfortable engaging with staff and other patrons.
‘We have [also] recently seen new groups taking up our “eight or more” discount offers. They’ve been coming to us via online groups of hobby-based, purely platonic singles – such as meetup.com. The digital world definitely breaks down some of the barriers to attendance by connecting like-minded people, which is great.’
As well as industry forums and panels, and Q+A nights, which have become in Australian theatres, Griffin also offers other engagement activities which attract singles such as Script Club: ‘a new initiative John McCallum is bringing to Griffin – in which folks will read a little known Australian play and discuss it over a wine in our foyer … and our short courses with the likes of Hilary Bell, such as Page to Stage and Adaptations.’ Mayhew said.
‘I’ve also heard that STC has (or had) a “matinee club”. People register their interest to join, one performance per season is put aside for these members, who are then invited to arrive an hour early and chat with drinks and sandwiches in a function room before the show. I believe this attracts mainly older singles who want to have a social, as well as cultural, experience.
‘Funny enough, as we speak, Griffin has created a “theatre for one” which we call Griffin’s Intimate Theatre which will house one actor and one audience member for one day only at Circular Quay this Saturday, 9 May. Folks can catch a free five-minute monologue of Australian work, all in the name of us giving back to our audiences and community. Who said theatre can’t be for one?’ she concluded.
‘I won’t like it’
Perhaps the most pervasive belief preventing people from attending a live performance is the simple belief that they just won’t enjoy what’s on offer. But really: how will you know unless you go?
Independent theatremaker Fleur Kilpatrick said: ‘Don’t be scared of not liking a show. Sometimes we don’t like something and that is fine. It doesn’t necessarily mean failure on the part of either the artist or audience. When I see a show that doesn’t resonate with me, I am reminded of the incredible diversity of art. Performance is a broad church and there truly is something for everyone. I never cease to be delighted that a show like Meme Girls, with its fragmented music video-meets-confessional vibe is as much theatre as the vicious chaos of The Unspoken Word is ‘Joe’ or the softly lilting love story of What Rhymes With Cars and Girls.
‘So perhaps you won’t like something. It occasionally happens. But this is the important thing: the potential for joy, for excitement, for being heart-broken, shocked, turned on, changed, shattered, left aching from laughter or raw from tears vastly outweighs the possibility that you might feel nothing. So step into a theatre and prepare to be completely unprepared,’ Kilpatrick said.
