Critical Mass: Theatre Spectatorship and Value Attribution
Cultural Value Critical Mass: Theatre Spectatorship and Value Attribution The British Theatre Consortium: Janelle Reinelt, (P.I.), David Edgar, Chris Megson, Dan Rebellato, Julie Wilkinson, Jane Woddis 1 CRITICAL MASS: THEAT RE SPECTATORSHIP & V ALUE ATTRIBUTION CRITICAL MASS: Theatre Spectatorship and Value Attribution The British Theatre Consortium: Janelle Reinelt, (P.I.), David Edgar, Chris Megson, Dan Rebellato, Julie Wilkinson, Jane Woddis British Theatre Consortium, a small think-tank of academics and artists, investigated how theatre spectators value the experience of attending performances. Our partners were the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Young Vic, and the Theatre Royal Plymouth (Drum). Pursuing the phenomenology of actual experience, we collected self-descriptions from individuals who attended the theatre, gathered through online surveys, personal interviews, and creative workshops. We also tapped memory by asking some subjects about a performance they saw at least one year ago. Over 300 surveys were completed, 31 interviews and 3 workshops. In addition, three public events were held in the host theatres to share the findings (‘Unrestricted View: What do Audiences Value in What They See?’) and a culminating conference, held in London at the end of the project, featured panels of artists and academics (The Roar of the Crowd: a Conference on Spectators and Cultural Value). The results of the research confirm that value emerges in the relationship between the performance, the subjects, and their contexts. Subjects reported valuing the sociality involved in theatre; associated the experiences with their lives and the wider world. For most spectators, combinations of emotional, sensory, and intellectual stimuli register the impact of the theatre experience.
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