e! Science News: A study enjoying Spanish participation has analysed the theatre demand of society according to the socioeconomic status of the different types of the viewing public. The results were that the theatre is not just enjoyed by the intellectual classes. While they do prefer drama, the working class opts for comedy and the wealthier are swayed by reviews. Theatre arts are loss-making services that require subsidies to stay afloat. This type of practice has frequently come under fire as it is thought that theatre is consumed mainly by society's economic elite.
14 comments:
This title was not surprising to me- I wanted to read this article though because I find facts like this really interesting! From what I've learned, theater is here to make people feel good and entertained, and often in our country's most difficult times arose a surplus of arts. The pattern extends further- the more difficult life is, the more comical and funny we expect shows we are paying to see. With that being said, its easy to make such a comparison with people's daily lives to the kind of theater they want to go see, its a profile that is generally correct. Maybe wealthier people like seeing dramas because the things they encounter are not at all related to some of the hardships expressed on stage. We always want what we don't have, and I think this rings true for the theater we want to go see.
I agree with Natalie, there were not many new facts that were shared in this article regarding the audience. I think that it is nice that theater has become a bit more affordable so that it is possible to get a decent percentage of people in all classes seeing all different types of plays. It was a more elitist activity, once upon a time, and now that it is readily available. Shows don't even have to be on a big Broadway stage, it is a really flexible art that can occur almost anywhere. That makes it easier for the average person to find a piece of theater that they enjoy and can relate to. I also agree with the comment about the wealthier class enjoying a drama more so than a comedy. A drama can be really relatable to a wealthy person, but it can also be the fascination of some foreign concept like poverty. I also feel that the intellectuals would like a drama more than a comedy, maybe just to stimulate the mind. Comedies aren't always complex but they can easily become universal through a strong sense of humor.
I found the results of this study compelling, but not surprising. I agree with the notions stated above about how it's great that theatre has become more affordable and accessible, especially with the internet and touring companies that bring shows and expose ideas to audiences in more remote areas. The article did a great job explaining the different variables it used to define the different theatre preferences, genre, price, reviews, etc...but it didn't define how it divided its sample set into class archetypes. And I'm not sure that I agree with the broad generalizations that it used to define those goups. I'm not a fan of such broad generalizations anyway, as it were. For example, it's implied that most of the 'working class' were comprised by young people. I think it would have been more helpful if this class were actually defined by income. I know that was probably difficult and invasive material to find out, but from what I know of young theatre goers, the ones who pay more for theatre are already earning 6-figure salaries, which would put them in another class category. So, overall I think the findings here are incomplete without further definition.
From a marketing perspective this kind of research is obviously very important - knowing what your target audience is interested in seeing can inform what you choose to produce. However, I don't agree with this from a moral standpoint.
The polarization of theatre restricts artists' ideas and audiences' expectations. Just because something is comedic and appears light-hearted on the surface level doesn't mean that it can't also be an "intellectual" piece. Many of the pieces of theatre that have inspired me on a deeper level have been comedies. The Colbert Report (which isn't theatre but serves as a great example in this context) is aired on Comedy Central, but under the guise of humor it makes countless bold political statements and social commentary.
Also, I consider myself to be an "intellectual," whatever that means (well... at least I strive to be an intellectual), and sometimes I just want to watch a really fluffy piece of musical theatre from the 1950s.
I'm sure you've heard me use the following phrase when discussing gender/gender roles, but theatre is not binary. Comedy can be enlightening, drama can be funny, experimental theatre can be weirdly traditional.
I thought this article was interesting and pretty accurate from what I have seen myself over the years. I think the working class, or blue collar workers, find an escape from a stressful world when they attend a comedy. The everyday stressors of a lower income welcomes a reprieve and comedic theatre is a perfect choice. I don't think it means they don't also enjoy a good drama, but their preference is what is being discussed here.
Like everyone else, this article didn't really surprise me, although I found the statistics really interesting. Obviously studies like this can be useful for a marketing and publicity team of a theatre, since it can help them target certain demographics. I do want to point out, though, that the theatre culture of the UK (and other parts of Europe) is very different than that of the US. That's not to say that this study isn't applicable to the US too, but I'm not sure that it should be taken as a rule.
Even look at the price that this study uses for theatre tickets: 7 pounds on the low end and 35 on the high end. That's about $11-$55 dollars. In the US, especially in the theatre-rich cities like NY, DC, Chicago, etc, those prices ridiculously low. Broadway tickets can be hundreds and hundred of dollars, and even in DC, a relatively small, unheard of play can be $40 or $50 per ticket. The subsidies that some European governments give to the arts is what allows ticket prices to be so low, which means that even lower-income people don't see theatre as out of the realm of possibility for a night of entertainment. In the US, that isn't necessarily the case. Sure, the wealthy will rely more on reviews since they aren't as concerned with price, and the intellectuals will want a drama they can think about, and the working class may want to be more entertained, but regardless of that, I would question whether the American theatre world can really be broken down so easily, since it is based much more on the money involved and maybe not as much on interest.
This article is interesting. I guess I could have guessed it based on what I have seen in theaters but sometimes it really does seem like theater attendees are a bunch of old rich white folks. It's funny though because I feel like I fit into all three categories when I attend theater. When I used to go to theater with my parents I was part of the "wealthy class" who preferred drama/tragedy and would by swayed by reviewers. Currently I am the "working class" because I am a student and don't really have money to go to really expensive things, and when I do I just want to see something entertaining and funny. But I also fit into the "cultured class" which I think are the children of the "wealthy class", and have had a little exposure to theater but just want to suck up as much as they can so they will be less critical and will pay money to go to things that they think will be really good. I think of this group as the people who are theater groupies, the teenage girl that will see spring awakening 15 times and the gay man who will pay big bucks to see Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act.
I'm disregarding my own preferences as compared to my financial situation in the statements I am about to make, because having something as a profession skews the statistics. I've put much more effort into determining my preferences than the average person of my age and monetary status would.
That being said, I grew up in a lower middle class family, and can definitely see these statistics playing out in my parents. They prefer comedies very much so over dramas. If they even got a chance to see a drama, which they often didn't, they were asleep a quarter of the way through. Now, despite our own situation, many of the people around us were well off. And they did enjoy dramas. Sometimes they even saw comedy as being below them.
People can break this mold, for sure, but generally I see this making sense. I can't say why the classes gravitate this way, but in my personal experience they do seem to.
Now that this information has been solidified in a study (like everybody else, I wasn't too particularly surprised by the findings), I think that the new question is how to bridge the gap. How can we expose the working class to dramas and have them enjoy them? Is the cultural/intellectual class missing out on something by skipping over comedies? Preferences are okay (I have my own preferences as to what I like to see...we all do), but if certain groups are purposely seeing one type and not another, it's time for theatres to smudge the line and find ways to expose groups and classes to other types of theatre.
Not surprising results from the study, this is also the same thing amongst film audiences. I do agree with Alex's last comment in terms of trying to bridge the gap between the different classes. The difficulty in this would be that the working class audiences usually crave comedies because they want to go to the theatre to laugh and enjoy comedic entertainment. It is typically an escape from the troubles of ones life. I know many people who would say, "I don't want to go to the theatre to see drama, I have enough drama in my life". However on an off chance of watching a drama many people usually enjoy them.
On the other hand, this is just a study and I also think that there are many working class people who prefer dramas and intellectuals who prefer comedies. I also think that both classes chose what to watch based on reviews, due to the fact that we have become a heavy review driven society, especially with the heavy influence of social media.
Nevertheless, it was an interesting article, not very surprising.
I take issue with a couple of the assumptions in this article. In particular, the fact that they are not compounding working class and intellectual class with wealth. The two are very clearly linked in the amount of disposable income, which in Spain at the moment is very dispersed. They struggle with some significant class issues which likely significantly biased this study.
I take issue with a couple of the assumptions in this article. In particular, the fact that they are not compounding working class and intellectual class with wealth. The two are very clearly linked in the amount of disposable income, which in Spain at the moment is very dispersed. They struggle with some significant class issues which likely significantly biased this study.
I'm not surprised by this article at all. It seems very logical that the intellectuals would prefer dramas, the working class would prefer comedies, and the wealthy class would prefer the critically acclaimed. Intellectuals are all about studying humanity, how humans behave. Theatre is like a window to humanity: we see how actors behave and respond to certain situations. By watching an actor, we realize how we, ourselves, act in real life. Drama is obviously the best suitor for this. The working class wants an escape from reality. Their minds must be transported to an easygoing place, so they won't buckle down under the stress of work. The wealthy class are obviously cautious when spending money. They would want to get the most enjoyment out of their money, so they discard any risk and take the easy road: looking at the best reviews. I don't think this study would come as a shock to most people
Hey. This is a great article. Instead of bitching about how much money a theatre company doest have, its a solution. Now that you know what people want to see - produce it and get the money you need/want. We talked about in tech mgmt today how theatre's are usually in debt and tend to pay for the things they need to produce a play well afterwards. That doesn't sound very financially sound to me. Even if you are a nonprofit organization, I think its wise to have enough money circulating within to stay at least at $0.
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