Burning Down the House

As a critic and fan of the theater, I give a look at the audience and notice pretty much the same crowd every time - one with a lot of gray hair and few young people. The fact that younger patrons are staying away is hardly news, but that those older ones who are coming are the same ones is, or should be. The reasons are various and inter-related, but some of the likely candidates for the theater's plight: the environment is unwelcoming, it's elitist and exclusive, provides the same old (same old) programming, is hostage to an awards process, expensive, and operated in a fiscal netherland. Specifically:

Theaters are not fan-friendly places. After fighting the traffic, finding parking, and locating somewhere to eat, you're confronted with an experience that's pretty restrictive, i.e., like going to the airport. You are herded to your cramped seats, forbidden to eat, drink, talk, take pictures, text, and generally move until the intermission, if there is one.

Theater is a mystifying art form. Artists and crafts people will explain their work in detail, musicians are positively eloquent when it comes to speaking about performance, and writers will discuss their work, go on tour, and personalize the signing of your books, but theater folk are generally nowhere to be found after a show. And when they are, access is usually restricted or moderated. Of all the arts, theater is the least accessible to the patron. Yes, the actors expose their inner beings, but then all artists reveal themselves in their work.

Theaters do little to prepare an audience for a performance. Those that do, restrict attendance to their subscribers or donors, charge you, or present lectures at a select time, when few patrons can attend. All theaters should have someone explaining the play an hour or so before the show, much like those who speak and provide excerpts before an opera or a musical performance.

Theaters offer static programming. Whether with a view toward grants or awards or their companies' development, theaters are offering the same kind of shows or such an eclectic mix that they do not appeal to a general audience.

The Helen Hayes Awards are limiting the resourcefulness of companies and stifling innovation. While HHA has done its part in promoting theater, its day as the only show in town has passed. Theaters are squandering their limited resources by continuing to offer shows with high production values to appeal to the judges. And they are competing with each other rather than cooperating. They really need to do more with less, and do it collegially, and they can without sacrificing quality. There is a pressing need to rethink the place of HHA within the theater community, which is a closed shop. You can start by having additional theater organizations, independent from HHA, offer awards and support as they do elsewhere (re: New York).

Theaters are pricing the occasional patron out of the market. Yes, there are good deals for the younger crowd, there are pay-what-you-can nights, and subscribers can save a lot of money, but ticket prices for the walk-up customer are way too expensive. The price point for the market you are trying to court is not 30 or 40 or 50 dollars and beyond, it's 10 to 20 dollars or close to it. With so much competition for the entertainment dollar - I include sports, movies, bars, and restaurants - the cost is prohibitive to many people. They'd rather stay home or just hang out. All theaters should take immediate steps in lowering costs and bringing down ticket prices.

Theaters provide no financial accountability. Ticket prices rise, subscriptions offer fewer plays and are more costly per ticket, and requests for donations are more insistent and more frequent. Where's the money going? Before theaters ask for another dime they need to open up the books. All theaters should provide an annual report, hard copies and on the internet, certified by an independent accounting firm with no conflict of interest, showing a complete financial breakdown for the year: what money came in and where it went.

Additionally, there are a number of other steps theaters might take:

Since more people socialize together, offer ticket incentives for groups of 4 or more.

Everyone's texting and taking photos - leisure time is a photo op for many - so provide seating areas for texting and let anyone take a photo without a flash after the show is over.

Allow unwrapped food (snacks) and covered beverage inside - you're competing with movies and sports - just ask them to pick up afterwards. You'll sell more concessions!

Offer a 50 percent discount, whatever the original price, on tickets for all patrons who return to a show for the second time during select times (early weekdays, Sunday evenings). Ask them only to provide proof of the original purchase.

Offer giveaways - everyone loves free stuff - print-up 1000 tee shirts, tote bags, caps etc., and give them away to any ticket purchaser during select times (see above).

Let patrons design theater logos. Have a competition and solicit ideas and offer a modest prize.

Let patrons vote for their favorite shows via Peoples Choice Awards.

Bring more young people onto staff as ushers.

Cultivate partnerships - creative and collegial with member theaters such as reciprocity for ticketing.

Rather than courting sponsors for lavish shows, solicit sponsorship for audience building to provide less expensive tickets for more people, more (and more frequent) access to exclusive events, provide for continuous interpretation of a show during its run, and improve on-line dramaturgy.

Dispatch at least 2 actors to the lobby immediately after a performance to sign autographs, schmooze with the crowd, and if invited, hang out with patrons.

We've seen Cal and Ryan reading - sports is a performing art! - show them or someone of their stature going to and encouraging attendance at the theater.

While theater is an extension of the written word, it remains largely visual. And people's enthusiasm for live events, especially casual and informal ones, is boundless; concerts, sporting events, "happenings," i.e., history being made, and like venues continue to draw and draw well. So while things look bleak in the near run, I remain hopeful for the future of the theater.