Audience Engagement
We love our audience, even those that are yet to see our shows! It’s thrilling to watch someone experience theatre for the first time and our engagement programs give theatre newbies the confidence to experience a whole new world. For our regular theatre-goers, we provide fun ways for you to deepen your knowledge of the theatre artform and provide you with many avenues to learn more and respond to our work.Audience Engagement
Who are “Theatre Newbies”?
The JUTE “Theatre Newbies” Program (formerly Focus Forums) is designed to give those people who haven’t experienced a JUTE production in a while (since 2007) - or ever - a hassle and cost free year of theatre and a chance to express your views. The program is not just about giving away free tickets; it’s about giving non-JUTE theatre-goers an insight into the artform and the opportunity to feed back to the company through an independent facilitator.What some of our past “Theatre Newbies” have to say…
“While I had no preconceived ideas around what to expect from the program it was a whole bunch of fun and it raised my awareness of the artistic offerings in Cairns. An experience I'd enthusiastically recommend to anyone considering participation” (2011 program participant)“[The group discussions] completed the theatre experience for me. Reaching your own conclusions and hearing others gives the performance greater depth. Sharing perspective creates the real magic of theatre - sometimes I can recall post production chat better than the production itself” (2011 program participant)
“Exciting, relevant, moving, vibrant, stimulating, well thought out performances, a place for local & emerging artists to showcase their talents” (selection of feedback program participants describing their program experience and the productions)
What do “Theatre Newbies” receive?
- Exclusive invitation to the JUTE's Season Launch Party - Tickets to JUTE’s season of productions
- Group facilitator & JUTE host to facilitate your discussions following a show
- Introduction from the Artistic Director/CEO & an insight into world of professional theatre with access to behind the scenes info about the making of JUTE productions
What JUTE expects in return from our “Theatre Newbies”
We ask our “Theatre Newbies” to embrace their year in the program and we ask for a commitment to attend the Season Launch party and the three JUTE productions in 2012 (see dates in application). We also ask for your honest feedback in a 15-20 minute group discussion after each performance, there are no right or wrong answers – think of it like a live book club!Application Process
Applications for our 2012 Theatre Newbies Program are now closed. If you would like to register your interest in the program for 2013 please send us an email info@jute.com.au. Ever walked
out of a performance and turned to your theatre buddy and
said "that was nice or not" - and the conversation stops there?
Conversation Starter Cards are available for each JUTE performance. The cards assist audience members to open up discussion about the performance they have seen. The playwright, director and designers each provide insights into their approach to the work and ask provocative questions that can assist audience members to articulate their responses to the work through different points of view.
Conversation Starter Card Examples
From 'What Are The Odds?' by Angela Murphy 01 - 16 April 2011 From Designer Luke Ede
"Clothes tell a lot about a person. The costumes in this production had to represent the mothers and the daughters. How did the costumes tell the story of these characters?"
From Playwright Angela Murphy
"Setting the play on Melbourne Cup Day brings a national flavour to a local Cairns production. In what ways did you relate to the Melbourne Cup moments in the play and/or the Cairns content?"
From Artistic Director/CEO Suellen Maunder
"How did this play engage with you emotionally? Did it affect how you see your world, your relationships, you as a contemporary Australian living in a regional centre?"
Tell it like it is 'Previews'
JUTE's warts and all preview performances are usually held on the 2 nights prior to opening night. By invite only, the preview audience is drawn from a broad cross-section of the community, including JUTE volunteers, media partners, tourism desks, bus and taxi drivers.The Director talks to the audience in the foyer prior to the show, asking them to give good and bad feedback and encouraging them to tell us what they would tell their friends about the show. This generates discussion on a deeper level and develops an analytical reading of performances. This informs how the preview audience go out and talk about shows and informs JUTE about how best to ‘sell’ the production.
Teacher Previews
All teachers who book to see a JUTE Theatre Company production will receive a complimentary ticket to attend the first preview of the production.
JUTE is committed to continually evaluating our artistic vibrancy and has in place a range of mechanisms to improve our artistic reflection. These evaluation tools assist our board to confidently and openly discuss artistic matters.
JUTE’s artistic
stakeholders include
- Artists: working
for the organisation
- Internal/Staff: includes staff, management and the Board
- Peers/Artform: includes external peers and artistic community
- Audience
- Community:
includes people in target communities beyond your current audience
- Funders: includes governments, donors and sponsors
Audience Exit Surveys
Since 2007 JUTE has asked audiences to complete audience surveys immediately following a show. 25% of our audience on each night of our shows fills out these surveys. The surveys not only provide us with information about who our audience is and where they hear about our shows, but they ask audiences to comment on aspects of the work they have seen including the ‘quality’ of work and their intellectual and emotional responses to the work. This allows the company to assess the impact of our work on our audience and more broadly on our community.
JCU Research Project
JUTE is collaborating with JCU to undertake a research project to identify the correlation between a range of factors including audience responses to risky or accessible work, demographic breakdown and audience loyalty and attrition rates. The results of this project will be made public when the research paper is published.
Community Survey
JUTE is in the process of developing an online survey that will ask our stakeholders to assess JUTE’s value to the community. The survey will give the broader community as well as our key stakeholders within the community an opportunity to have direct feedback to the company which will contribute to the future strategic direction of the company.