Words of mouth

Personally, I feel we need to distance ourselves from the current perceptions that Community Theatre equates to Am Theatre which equates to Lower Quality show.

How we do that exactly I am note entirely certain but I would suggest one way is we redefine ourselves by using terms like Independent Theatre.

I am proud to be a part of Community Theatre, but if a change of image will help improve turnover, then I am all for that too.

Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)

Jeff Watkins

Something further to my earlier comment, and in combination with it, I feel the whole matter is about exposure, and the previous comments re: Ghosts is a good example.

1. Firstly, there is exposure in terms of who were are - Amateur, Independent, Fringe, Professional
2. Then there is exposure in terms of actual promotion. The amount of promotion required is impacted on the image as presented in 1.
3. Finally there is pre-exposure of the show in particular. Previous bad productions may impact on both the theatre in question or further attempts by other companies to present said show.

3 has had a previous impact on 1 which in turn makes 2 that much harder, which is also affected by 3. If you can break through the barriers with 2, then regardless of the quality of the show or the reputation of the theatre, you get your audience. A returning audience will of course, through word of mouth, be affected by the enjoyment of the audience, which may or may not have anything to do with the level of technical effort of the production, and we have a flow on effect for 3.

I am simplifying this of course as there are far more factors than this, but essentially the point I am trying to make is in general, exposure is a big portion of any production. What makes this harder is when those whom have the capacity to provide quality and high volume exposure are reluctant to, for what-ever-reason, then we are left to flounder somewhat.

We have a few dedicated members of our theatrical community that work bloody hard trying to promote shows. Some do it for a fee and others do what they can. However, when you can't hit those high volume markets, it is an uphill battle.

Social Media is certainly helping in some aspects to get the word out. What I find is that there is a still a massive amount of blissful ignorance as to the existence of this "cultural underground". Some have cited the oft used "Sporting Mindset" as the blame for audience apathy. I am not so sure that is the main culprit as any community has its sporting fraternity, yet theatre can still thrive.

To my mind, it is the perception (or exposure) that Theatre in general is not looked upon with the same esteem as seen in other countries, and I think part of that is, as a community in general, we do not take ourselves seriously. We are not Amateurs by the modern day definition. We are lovers of theater trying to provide quality theatre where-ever we can. We need to change our identity and that begins with us.

The opinions of a man wearing a hat.

Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)

Jeff Watkins

My heart really goes out to some of the acting groups around Perth and the horrendous bills left after putting on a show.

As Walter Plinge said about ‘Ghosts’, in the past it has been heavy going and boring. The latest production really put life into it, clarified the relationships and characters; for the first time, the whole production was most satisfying. I paid $29 for a ticket and thought it well worth it; however, one gets a little peed off when the tickets are reduced to $19 later in the season, although I can understand the producer’s logic – and desperation. I understand that this is a school text, perhaps instead of hiring a theatre, a larger audience could be reached by actually going to several schools. There was only a small set and few props to deal with. The lighting could be tricky, but many schools now have decent rigs. $10 a ticket and free venue must be more attractive.

As you may gather I get out on a regular basis, and few venues are correctly heated, have even semi-comfortable seating and the correct rake, so one does not need to spend all night looking around the person in front – hence I live in the front row.

A raffle ticket ($2), a programme ($2), a cup of coffee in the interval ($3) and parking often $5 and regularly $8 – 10, adds another $15-20 to the ticket price.

The choice of the play is vitally important. One theatre recently had ‘Virginia Woolf’ on, it could have been the best production this year, but the thought of seeing this – or even worse another version of ‘The importance of being earnest’ - and I would rather die.

There are nights, usually Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when there is no show on anywhere in Perth. At the ends of the week, there can be several shows all on at once. Imagine going to Melbourne and there is no theatre show to see, there is always a reasonable choice.

Then there are the lean periods when every excuse in the book has been used –

‘it is a quiet time of the year’ - are there really times when no one is interested in a night out at the cinema, quiz night or theatre for weeks on end?

‘No one comes after Easter’ – they won’t if there is nothing on.

‘We had a play on last month and it takes four weeks to bump out and get the next show going’ – then why don’t Community Theatres have two teams or ‘companies’ within their setup?

Very few theatres send me a ‘general public’ email circular about their shows. I often have to search their websites. If you have a list of regulars, then send an email – they are free to post out. Websites? Wow, some have not been up dated for months; one is still, showing what is ‘coming up in March ’12’.

‘The audiences have dropped off’ - with a play in each theatre about every two months, the habit of going to see the plays drops off.

Young people never even consider going to the theatre, after all ‘where is it?’, ‘boring’, ‘it is usually closed’ and ‘we have never met anyone who has been’. One group north of the river had a different children’s group of dancers and singers in their pantomime each night, so naturally the proud parents and grannies rushed from all over – a full house each night, just to see little Johnnie.

Hall hire cost is totally ridiculous. If the theatres, community or professional were used every week the charges would drop dramatically. If a restaurant opened 15% of the time, imagine the price of a meal.

As a Consumers’ Magazine has said recently, the ticketing services are amongst Australia’s the worst businesses. Thankfully, many theatres are now fitting their own booking systems.

Reviewing plays? The director can write a review – ready for publishing - and send it along with a photo, to each of the local newspapers who will happily print it. Alternatively, you could write a review for a friend’s play and then ask them to return the compliment for yours.

Finally give the punters what they want, and occasionally slip in a quality classic. Make sure that the welcome is warm and that the venue is worth the entry fee. Even if a show is wonderful but the place a dump, the public may not come back. The producer or director should mingle in the interval – without speaking, just listening – or at the end, stand outside the door or in the car park and listen to the real feelings about the show.

To all the theatre groups who work so hard for no return, a very many thanks.

I certainly wasn't having a go at you Angelique, your company has always been kind enough to offer a comp, but because of your financial situation I never take them. The box office charging me a booking fee to buy a ticket when I am standing there annoys me.

I can understand you wanting to cut the price and I am glad you get folk in, but many people may well wait until the reduction may be made. The two for one offer that some companies make are always worth waiting for. I just wonder if it is better to hit a lower price initially?

Keep up the good work. This show was one of your best.

Graded Seating? Charge higher for the front two row and grade it down as you go back?

Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)

Jeff Watkins

Sorry you didn't see Virginia Woolf Gordon, after a slow start it had what I am hesitant to classify as 'rave reviews (declare an interest here) extremely positive ones- even from those loyal audience members who come to everything but were hesitan on this one. .

Re putting on a production on Monday-Tuesday and even Wednesday..... we tried that with Beast & The Beauty- might as well have not bothered with Tuesday, Wednesday a bit better- waiting list for Friday and Saturday each week!!!

We are persevering with a Wednesday show for each seaon and it's very very slowly gaining ground. bit like sunday Matinees which are now pretty popula, but they took nearly a year to improve!

As to the "type of play' I don't think that the producers of Open All Hours are going to be left in the red!! What does that tell us all??