The Recession and Theatre

In this time of economic downturn, what effect is it going to have on the entertainment field. Are we going to see the number of shows cut back. Are we going to see the amount of money that the audiences are willing to spend each year drop? I think we could be in for a tight time in this industry. A lot of people are going to be after the same dollar, so we to be very clever in the way that we sell shows to the public. A lot of companies are going to be fighting each other as they are going to be putting on similar type of shows. So these companies are going to have to work out how to get the audience to open their wallet for their show and not the competitors show. They are going to need to specifically target certain key groups, they will need to produce shows that will appeal to certain core groups. They are going to need to develop a database of audiences and target them. Companies are going to have to use their marketing money in smarter ways. They need to try and not use the shotgun method of print, ads, radio ads etc. They need to target their previous audiences via mail outs and email. They need to become very net savvy, this is especially true for amateur companies. In fact using new media techniques could in fact save money for a company. Also they can use social media methods to find new audiences.  If a company knows far enough in advance their shows they can get start a very cheap search for new audiences though avenues such as Facebook, Twitter etc. Find people that might like the authors and possibly have not seen a production of this author’s works. And Target them. Also use social media where younger people hang out, if a production happens to be linked to the school curriculum, aim for these students with the idea that seeing a live version might help them with their study.

We all have to tighten our belts and use what we have left more effectively. We need to listen to our audiences. And social media sites are a great way to reach out to them and also a fantastic way to get feedback. And it is certainly a lot cheaper than traditional methods.

Strand Patt123 Fresnel – Preloved gear

Along with Strand’s famous Patt 23 profile this must be one Strands most well known small fresnel. And I bet we all have used one and there are a still a lot giving great service around the world in various venues. This Fresnel is built along the lines of the Patt 23 in that it is rather solid but simple and reliable in operation. The light output was adequate for most small venues. As with a lot of the older equipment the body got very hot when running and it was a bit of a challenge to change a lamp or re-focus if the fitting had been running for a while. To change the lamp you pressed a catch on the top that would let you swing down the front half of the fitting and the lamp tray. It was always a good idea to move the lamp adjuster to near the rear so as to make it easier to remove the old T-1 lamps. You also had to make sure that this catch was latching correctly before you sent the lantern back up in the air. It did have a tendancy to let go. The lantern had two colour filter runners so you could also add the optional barn door fitting to the fixture. Overall thsi was a pretty reasonable piece of kit and has survived many years and is still giving reliable service.

Strand Patt 123

I would Rate this as a 7/10