All the world’s a stage or is it?

by Jini Stolk

Meanwhile, Alan Brown raised crucial new questions about arts space in his new study All the World’s a Stage, specifically about the pivotal role that venues and settings play in performing arts experiences.

“All else being equal, why will some people attend programs in one setting, but not another?  What will artists require in terms of performance spaces in 10 or 20 years?  While most arts presenters are hardwired to offer programs in conventional venues with good acoustics and technical capabilities, the public is increasingly drawn to nontraditional, unusual, multi-use and temporary spaces that add a unique dimension to the live experience…What does this portend for the future of arts facilities?”

Creative Trust’s Audience Engagement Survey and Interviews revealed audiences’ strong desire for a welcoming social atmosphere at arts facilities.

Guardian UK’s Theatre blog had an interesting discussion about buildings that might be able to “respond, sensitively and nurturingly and challengingly and ambitiously, to an artform that wants to be….fleet, acute, unorthodox, dissident, ticklish, erotic, hopeful…”

So while we’re thinking about funding, planning, and budgeting for renovations or new facilities – we also have to think about the impact of the space on the art, and vice versa.