{"id":142398,"date":"2015-08-06T02:35:43","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T02:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/08\/06\/without-having-a-new-audience-how-is-theatre\/"},"modified":"2015-08-06T02:35:43","modified_gmt":"2015-08-06T02:35:43","slug":"without-having-a-new-audience-how-is-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/08\/06\/without-having-a-new-audience-how-is-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"Without having a new audience, how is theatre going to flourish?"},"content":{"rendered":"

lucianajellyfish<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

cumberbuddy<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI wish i wasn\u2019t so annoyed at being annoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a recurring theme in my head the past few days and that\u2019s been: annoyance. Why? Well, we are leading up to Hamlet and there have been a pretty unshocking number of articles from the likes of The Daily Mail, The Times and even the Guardian titled with things like, and i quote, \u201cAlas, poor Cumberbitches, Hamlet plans a secret exit\u201d, \u201cCumberbatch fans swot up on Shakespeare and etiquette ahead of Hamlet\u201d and\u00a0\u201cLondon prepares for descent of \u2018Cumberbitches\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I took the time out to read a few of these so you don\u2019t have to and the trusty UK media and their, obviously, extremely outdated and not very talented writers don\u2019t really have anything new or interesting to say because Benedict isn\u2019t giving them interviews about Hamlet (or they\u2019re annoyed because they didn\u2019t get a ticket and his fans did!)<\/p>\n

The\u00a0\u2018Cumberbitches\u2019 (a term the fans themselves, as well as Cumberbatch would rather leave at the back door) are painted as good for nothing, squealing, unintelligent, uncultured, annoying little\u00a0\u2018things\u2019. Not enthusiastic people<\/i> with passions, genius, power and artistry! Which is bit odd. Because i\u2019ve been knee-deep in the \u2018Cumberbitch fandom\u2019 for the best part of 3 years and that\u2019s all i\u2019ve ever really experienced – a 95% positive, loving, quick-witted, kind, accomplished, supportive and brilliant group of people from all ages with careers, husbands, wives, children and lives.. !<\/p>\n

What i find interesting in the UK press and with ardent theatregoers that now have voices on Twitter, these supposedly intelligent human beings, is that they\u2019ve turned a complete blind eye to well, the obvious<\/i>. For years the industry, and writers for the papers included above have tried very hard to try and make theatre accessible for everybody! Most of all, make young people WANT to actually spend their hard earned cash and go to the theatre and see a Shakespeare production! So, when a Shakespeare play goes on sale, which sells tickets faster than a Jay Z and Beyonce concert (multi-millionaire (combined billionaire) singer, rapper& songwriters, producers, influencers and all round decent idols for the youth today, just in case you didn\u2019t know who they were) and that isn\u2019t something that\u2019s celebrated? Instead \u201cthe UK is going to be booming with these irritating Cumber-whatever it is teenagers, blocking my bloody view with their wacky hairstyles and are bound to have an overwhelming pong from camping overnight to get the silly cheap seat tickets AND it\u2019s taking me twice as long to get in due to ID checks, this NEVER happens anywhere else, there might an security guard in the lobby annoying me nearby! I\u2019m just rather put-off<\/a> to be honest!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

(I will just say, for crying out loud, every fan i have ever met (quite a few) have never had issues with the silly annoyances typed in the paragraph above!) The media will, no matter what i, or anyone else say will let fans of someone famous come across \u201crabid\u201d and\u00a0\u201cextreme\u201d and there\u2019s not much we can really do about it! We cannot mention the amount of money we\u2019ve raised for charity under Benedict\u2019s name, no! That\u2019s another conversation altogether though so i won\u2019t start now\u2026<\/p>\n

The argument is apparently this, \u201cI think it\u2019s sad the only time new people show an interest in theatre is when there is a big celebrity on stage<\/a>.\u201d I\u2019m going to put a \u2018LOL\u2019 here cos that\u2019s exactly what i did when i read it. That attitude is so, so\u2026 wrong?! I\u2019m going to say that again, that attitude is so wrong<\/i>. That. Attitude. Is. 100%. The. WRONG. Attitude. Isn\u2019t that approach the same one you want to get away from? Comments like that is what makes new theatregoers feel unwelcome<\/b>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it should have gone,\u00a0\u201cI think it\u2019s brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch is bringing in first time theatregoers every night. I truly hope they can fall in love with theatre the same way i did!<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

That was easy!<\/p>\n

I feel slightly that i\u2019m preaching to the converted in posting this on my semi-popular Benedict Cumberbatch blog but i find it absurd that people can be so out of touch. Do they want their theatre to die away? Because that\u2019s exactly what will happen if there is no spark ignited in the younger generation to want to get into it and carry it on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These people were young once! They went to their first theatre production once. It\u2019s written in their personal history. They have filled their souls with this particular art ever since and they should wish everyone to experience something as blooming as this! How can they forget that they too were new to theatre once?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I went to a National Theatre Live screening of \u2018Skylight\u2019 where i live in Kent fairly recently. The cinema was around 80% full which i thought was brilliant but i was alarmed that i was the youngest person there. It was a shockingly greying, older audience. I thought to myself\u00a0\u201cWhy are there not many younger people here?\u201d I knew for sure of about 5 sort-of friends locally that were interested in theatre, even studying it at the college down the road (a large department in Thanet College which has actually just been shut down and replaced). So why wasn\u2019t the interest there? It needs to start SOMEWHERE. It just does. It really, really does. Ostracising an already nervous audience with assumptions that \u2018they\u2019ll certainly not know at all what they\u2019re letting themselves in for\u2019 and \u2018this experience is above them\u2019 is not the way to go. Having different people other than your average Joe interested in theatre is exactly what it needs. \u00a0The next big theatre director, actress, costume designer could be sat in that queue for the \u00a310 tickets and you\u2019re making them feel completely undesired and almost turning them away.\u00a0Without having a new audience, how is theatre going to flourish?<\/i><\/p>\n

I want to also quickly mention where money from a popular production like Hamlet goes. Artists and its production, theatre operations, management services, new play programming, education and training, information services\u2026 must i go on? They are shooting themselves directly in their foot with this constant negative outlook. And i\u2019d bet their expensive shoes won\u2019t save them! I\u2019m sure you can imagine what it does for our UK tourism when people from all over the world comes to watch a show in London!<\/p>\n

Have those snobby people i\u2019ve seen reacting to such one sided, almost insulting excuses of journalism written about Cumberbatch fans today been that easily led by their own media to believe that their experience will possibly be ruined by a few enthusiastic fans? I despise the \u2018they are them and we are us\u2019 notion and that it\u2019s going to be a nuisance being anywhere near \u2018them fans.\u2019 They know how to behave and know what\u2019s appropriate too, thanks!\u00a0\u201cHeaven forbid we give young people some credit!\u201d<\/p>\n

Music, art, theatre, in fact anything that\u2019s creative should be about bringing people together. People from different classes with different jobs, from different countries because \u201cthose things don\u2019t matter here folks!\u201d Enjoying something and appreciating it, collectively.<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if it takes a big name like Benedict Cumberbatch, a game changer in the world of acting (who i assume you\u2019ve seen in After The Dance, Hedda Gabler, Frankenstein to name a few – i\u2019ve seen them, by the way), to bring in some fresh faces (of all ages!!) and introduce them to the unique golden wonder that is British theatre, then live, love and let be.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Written by me, Tor C. A 26 year old professional drummer from Kent. Cheers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is very wonderfully put and I just want to add as a side note that theatre\u2019s (and movies) frequently intentionally cash in on a big name star to get people to show up to their show. \u00a0Like if you\u2019re advertising as\u00a0\u201cWell Known Person stars in This Thing\u201d maybe don\u2019t be surprised when people show up to see Well Known Person. \u00a0Seriously a theatre I work at just did this and trust me it was not advertizing aimed at young people.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

All true and I\u2019m just going to toss in here that this was the reason John Barrowman did panto for so many years when it\u2019s often looked down on. Because he wanted to get young people interested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

lucianajellyfish: cumberbuddy: \u201cI wish i wasn\u2019t so annoyed at being annoyed.\u201d There\u2019s been a recurring theme in my head the past few days and that\u2019s been: annoyance. Why? Well, we are leading up to Hamlet and there have been a pretty unshocking number of articles from the likes of The Daily Mail, The Times and … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Without having a new audience, how is theatre going to flourish?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[8476,16379,16378,16377],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142398\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}