Spotlight - Building community audiences

For West End theatres, surviving means engaging with a broader church of stakeholders, says James Williams.

Has the West End any purpose other than to turn a profit? I very much think so. Of course, profits matter as they are the life blood to keeping the wonderful infrastructure that forms the West End theatre alive, but we absolutely need to engage with a broad church of users and stakeholders to ensure our long term survival.

Active engagement

I joined the Theatre of Comedy Company three years ago having spent over 25 years working in the subsidised sector as Executive Director at Hampstead Theatre and before that touring theatre throughout the UK and abroad with Method & Madness, formerly Cambridge Theatre Company. Regardless of the political climate, the companies I had worked with always had to steer their robust artistic visions within the context of an active engagement with their communities and audience. To not engage would have been funding suicide but to disassociate from it would have been commercial suicide.

The Theatre of Comedy Company owns the Shaftesbury Theatre and during the past 20 years has steered the Theatre through both good and bad times. Major shows like Follies, Tommy and Rent have enjoyed success and substantial runs, but of late success seems to have eluded us. This has been no different from many other West End theatres but, for some reason, our disappointments are more noticed. So, how have we set about changing the perception of the Theatre?

Changing perceptions

We are one of only a few independent owner- operated theatres in the West End. It makes economies of scale difficult and, because there is only one theatre, the ability to box and cox with programming impossible. So, we need to mark out our individuality, making the Theatre attractive to both producers and audiences. The building is no problem; it is a perfect lyric house, ideal for staging both musicals and large-scale drama. It is well served by public transport and easy to find, if you dont assume that everything on Shaftesbury Avenue is reached easily from Piccadilly Circus! Importantly, its a wonderful house to watch a show in; there is not a bad sightline and the relationship with the stage is perfect. But we needed to strengthen our programming and build stronger links with our audience and local community.

Our audience is split between Londoners, UK tourists and overseas tourists. A successful show means that over 200,000 Londoners will visit the Theatre during the year. Programming must therefore reflect the taste of Londons diverse communities as much as that of the other audience sectors: high quality productions that have broad entertainment appeal but are often rooted in the lives or history of a minority community. During the past couple of years, Far Pavilions and Daddy Cool both enjoyed six-month seasons playing to audiences in excess of 250,000. These produced astonishingly diverse audiences that we have often seen return to the theatre. When we ask individuals Why? they reply that its the unstuffy welcome and non-aggressive sales and pricing policy that are the key factors. I believe these are two key elements that make ours a welcoming environment.

Delivering value

We pride ourselves on being relaxed and welcoming but we also have commercial objectives, which means that achieving good results takes a lot of effort. We spend much time selecting and balancing the mix of our staff and always ensure that our front of house offer is sensibly pitched. Our profit is driven by volume as much as by margins, making the customer feel content in their purchase thus securing repeat sales. We need to ensure a real sense of value to truly have a place in the broad community we serve.

Likewise when working with the producer we have to have an effective strategic pricing policy to provide for the long-term well-being of each show while at the same time making sure our local audiences can get reasonably priced tickets. This is never a problem with the good producer who wants a full theatre. For the current show Fame there has been a range of amazing deals including concession and day tickets, family tickets and many more. With Hairspray, a high profile Broadway show opening in October, the equation becomes more complex but accessibility for our local audiences still stays high on the agenda. The ticketing structure still makes it possible to purchase tickets that are reduced by up to 34% and concessions remain. All of which is essential to maintaining our connection to our community.

Building relationships

Any theatre, even in the West End, is a public building and it should be used throughout the day. At the Shaftesbury daytime hires flourish and there are a growing number of Sunday events. These all broaden the ethnic, social and age mix of the buildings users and increase our overall attendance by 10% annually. The events in the past year have included childrens shows, poetry presentations for GCSE and A level students, a Russian language production specifically for the London Russian community, stand up comedy and several concerts, the latter including such diverse artistes as Michael Bublé and the esoteric Lisa Gerrard. The programme is deliberately eclectic, responding to different audiences in London with the aim of creating a West End Theatre that is different; one that has a lasting relationship with its audience.

We have also responded to what is happening in our immediate environment. Planning, local issues ranging from housing to antisocial behaviour, the relationship with the business community and transport are all key factors. The Shaftesbury had long found itself in a no mans land between Oxford Street and Covent Garden, a neglected area with social and built infrastructure problems. The perceived notion of the theatre being out of the way was wrong; it was simply not the best of neighbourhoods.

When I joined in 2004 things were changing: planning for a new high profile development on St Giles High Street was underway and community involvement was being sought. The Crossrail proposals were moving up the agenda, Tottenham Court Road underground station was to be redeveloped and the various transport agencies were studying traffic and public transport management for the area. We engaged in this, generating ties with local businesses, which ranged from multi-national to small sole traders and community members. Many businesses now use the theatre for anything from entertaining to corporate presentations.

These developments mean that as the streetscape around the Theatre is changing we have been able to have a direct input. So, in anything from significant road improvements to improved access, from new bus routes to changes in the built environment we now have a voice and are able to gain continued and growing benefit for the Theatre. We only own one theatre, but we hope that we punch above our weight. Our community and local environment matters and through thoughtful engagement and effective programming we believe we play a significant role.