Meet Your Audience Where They Are

Wayfinding: Spotlights > Companion Screens > Meet Your Audience Where They Are

Smartphones are rapidly becoming the main media consumption devices for most of us, with one report finding that, in 2021, smartphones and televisions were about on par for amount of time used each day – shy of four hours and one quarter hours, in both cases. At the same time, theatres in most of the Westernised world face even further declines in patronage, with many audiences not only citing Covid cautions, but . Because of digital media, audiences are no longer restricted to in-person attendance to patron a theatre, nor are they subject to broadcasting schedules to watch certain shows. Per Andrew Hungerford:

The idea of Zoom fatigue and the idea of digital engagement fatigue when people are still engaging just as much with screens in other ways; they're still watching all the streamers. They're just not necessarily engaging with local arts in the same way, because of some perceived fatigue. But they're also not coming out in-person; they realize they like being home.

There is a desire among current audiences to be met where they already are – that is not just in their homes, but on their phones. While there are shows I watched that were made for smartphones (Nosferatu: A 3-D Symphony of Horror and Murder Ballad), it is not simply a matter of making a show suit the tiniest screen; consider how you, the theatre maker, and how your audience, might use companion screens while engaging other media, or engaging in other tasks like texting friends. These habits can become part of the show, inspiring deep(er) attention, which can feel more like theatre compared to the hyper attention of television or livestreaming entertainment. For instance, Creation Theatre’s adaptation of Antigone in 2024 incorporated the audience’s smartphones – the audience could volunteer their phone number so characters, particularly Antigone, could text them as commentary during the show. I will note that as Creation is based in the UK and I am in Australia, I did not get a text.