Audience – A Round Table Discussion

The doors of the theaters are wide open and the schedules of programming are full. And a lot of people are asking themselves: where is the audience? Who is coming back to the stage and the spotlight and who have we lost along the way somewhere between streaming and hygiene measures? How can we come (back) into conversation with each other? And, very importantly: who exactly do we mean when we talk about “the audience” of the independent performing arts community?

Long before the much discussed “crisis of the audience”, studies had already been started to determine who we speak to, who we reach - and who we do not reach. Communication formats, systemic (non-)audience research, outreach strategies, internal transfers of knowledge within the community and a great deal of other additional approaches help to get to know our audiences and enter into dialogue with them. While a number of insights have already been gleaned, there are still some questions that need to be sharpened and discussed with each other. Over the course of a round table discussion format, experts from the independent performing arts community, administrators and audience researchers will come together and provide insight into the opportunities provided by audience research. What do we want to find out about our visitors? How do different forms of audience research work? Which costs as well as which funding opportunities are associated with them? What does this mean for the already scant (staff) capacities of independent structures? And what should be done with data obtained?
After, we will come together for a round of discussion, take a look at the future and jointly sketch out the next steps for performance venues, institutions, the administration and the audience.

Speakers

With: Dr. Vera Allmannritter (Institut für Kulturelle Teilhabeforschung, KulMon®), Babak Dehkordy (Berlin’s Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Associate for Cultural Participation), Annika Frahm (Hebbel am Ufer), Hendrik Frobel (Chamäleon Theater), Laila Grümpel (LOFFT Leipzig), Steffen Klewar (Fonds Darstellende Künste), Katja Lehmann (Theater unterm Dach), Claudia Marks (Berlin Performing Arts Festival)

Accessibility

The event will take place at tak – Theater Aufbau Kreuzberg. It is recommended that public transportation or bicycle be used in order to reach the venue. Parking spaces are, unfortunately, difficult to find in the direct vicinity of the theater. There is, however, sufficient space to stop briefly with a car, e.g. a taxi. The route from the street to the auditorium where the event will take place has no steps, but does have a slight slope. There are no railings. There is a wheelchair ramp for getting over any possible speed bumps. The doors of the main entrance open manually and open to the outside. The entrance consists of a double door; the entrance is 160 cm wide when both sides are open. The seating within the auditorium is flexible, meaning that as many wheelchair places can be offered as are needed. We would appreciate it if you could let us know if a wheelchair place is needed so that we can take this into consideration when configuring the seating in the auditorium. There are also two large beanbags available on-site that can be used as alternative seats. The sanitary facilities are barrier-free and are located about 10 meters away from the auditorium the event will be held in.

The event will be held in German spoken language.

We are happy to answer questions about accessibility and ask for feedback on wishes and needs, so that we can focus more on the needs of the participants.

Contact: Sarah Stührenberg
publikum [at] pap-berlin.de.­

­­­

­