Post by Hannah Grannemann, Guest EditorPart of the series: Audiences During the Pandemic I’ve developed a routine of watching theater online during the pandemic: comfy clothes, a specific spot on my couch to tuck into, and a glass of wine. I can really only do this when it’s my husband’s turn to put our four-year-old to bed. Surprise: the four-year-old does not always go quietly into … [Read more...]
Holidays are canceled?
Post by Hannah Grannemann, Guest EditorPart of the series: Audiences During the Pandemic Going to a holiday show is a secular ritual undertaken by thousands of Americans each year. Add holiday shows to the long list of lost engagement in the arts during this pandemic. From an audience perspective, is the holiday experience different than the rest of the season? What is lost when audiences miss … [Read more...]
Appreciations of reopening
Post by Hannah Grannemann, Guest EditorPart of the series Audiences During the Pandemic Celebrations and stories about experiencing reopening of arts organizations are being shared, and they are joyous and poignant. Here are four of my favorites: First, the image of this man unabashedly rejoicing as he enters The Metropolitan Museum of Art needs no further commentary. Second, … [Read more...]
Is there anybody out there? Yes.
Post by Hannah Grannemann, Guest EditorPart of the Series Audiences During the Pandemic No one had any idea if people would tune in to all this arts content when the digital floodgates opened in March. What do we know now? We know that engagement with arts content online has skyrocketed, with scores more people watching online than usually attend in person: 7.9 million people had watched … [Read more...]
Finally: Arts Organizations Have Some Fun
Post by Hannah Grannemann, Guest EditorPart of the Series Audiences During the Pandemic Arts organizations weren’t sure whether audiences would want to watch online content when everything stopped this spring. If they did, what would they want to watch? Plenty of arts organizations sent surveys, but what could audiences really tell us? They only knew what they had experienced before – … [Read more...]
New Series: Audiences During the Pandemic
Post by Guest Editor, Hannah Grannemann When the pandemic first hit and performances stopped and museums closed in mid-March, I watched. In 2017, after 17 years working in the arts, mostly in nonprofit theatre, I joined the University of North Carolina Greensboro faculty as an Assistant Professor of Arts Administration and Director of the Arts Administration Program. Just prior to … [Read more...]
Audiences and Audiencing . . .
. . . in the Time of Covid? Where even to begin? I’m happy to say that my colleague and friend Hannah Grannemann has an idea. Starting Wednesday, August 26, Hannah will serve as Guest Editor for my We the Audience blog. Over the next few months, Hannah will facilitate a dialogue with readers on the topic of the audience during this extraordinary interregnum. She’ll lead us by positing a … [Read more...]
Audiencing: Joining the Resistance at Donmar Warehouse?
Last week in London I was able to see the much discussed Donmar Warehouse production of Bruce Norris’ new adaptation of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. It’s not hard to see why Brecht’s satirical account of the rise of a clownish American dictator would find its moment now, amidst a global wave of unbridled populism and unapologetic me-first-ism. The orange hair is just the cherry on … [Read more...]
Profiling Audiences in Pittsburgh and Charlotte (my new home town)
To “We the Audience” readers: the essay that follows, including the title, was in final draft form and ready for one last round of editing when the events that began with the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott unfolded in Charlotte. I held off on publishing for a few weeks for obvious reasons. I sincerely hope my use of the term “profiling” will not be seen as inappropriate, given the new … [Read more...]
South Africa’s Citizen Artists: Malcolm Purkey and Johannesburg, from Soweto to Hillbrow*
*This is the fourth and final essay in a series of “We the Audience” posts designed to introduce my readers to the citizen artists working in some of South Africa’s most challenged areas. [For a look at all four essays, start reading here.] Today’s essay focuses on Malcolm Purkey, who, of course, does not actually need an introduction. As a key figure in the anti-apartheid theatre scene in … [Read more...]