Cultural Lives: Exploring Audiences for Theatre & Dance February 2019
Why are we here? Help generate Give you Spark new ideas insights conversations that will help into audiences and foster you do things for theatre and collaborations differently dance events 2
Structure of today’s event • Introductions • Background of the study • Data and insights, mixed with open discussion • Break around 10:30am and hope to get you out before 1pm 3
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We want this to be more of a dialogue, not a presentation, so don’t be afraid to talk! 5
How did we conduct the study? • Commissioned by Belfast City Council • Who: 2,200 Belfast residents, representative of the council area • What: face-to-face survey delivered by Kantar Millward-Brown • When: 6 week period in 2017 • Where: at residents’ homes • Why: to allow thrive to analyse the data and: Understand Understand the Understand what residents’ interaction of people ATTENDED PARTICIPATION participation and in arts and culture in arts and culture attendance
What did we ask? • What activities did Belfast residents participate in? • What activities did Belfast residents attend or visit?
Section 2 What is the size of the market for theatre and dance among Belfast residents?
Quiz! 9
In the past 12 months, how many Belfast residents have…? a.) 20% b.) 33% ...attended a c.) 12% play or drama? d.) 40% e.) 9% 10
In the past 12 months, how many Belfast residents have…? 33% ...attended a play or drama? 11
In the past 12 months, how many Belfast residents have…? a.) 20% b.) 33% ...attended a c.) 12% dance performance? d.) 40% e.) 9% 12
In the past 12 months, how many Belfast residents have…? 20% ...attended a dance performance? 13
Of all of the cultural activities listed in our survey, plays/drama and dance were in the top 5 In the past 12 months, have you attended any of the following anywhere in NI? Big outdoor event, carnival etc 51% Rock, pop or country music 36% Play or drama 33% Musical 24% Dance 20% Folk, traditional or world music 20% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 14
What does this mean? This means that of the 327,529 people aged 16+ living in Belfast* 108,085 adults 65,506 adults went to watch a went to watch play or drama dance that year that year 15 *Based on NISRA’s 2017 mid -year population estimates
What about participation? Attended Participated Difference Dance 20% of residents 19% of residents 1% TINY GAP (1 in every 5) (1 in every 5) Plays/Drama 33% of residents 5% of residents 28% BIG GAP (1 in every 3) (1 in every 20) Is that the same people watching and doing? 16
Dance has a bigger proportion of people who are “doing” and not “watching” Attended Participated ? Participated in Dance in Dance Attended Plays/Drama Plays/Drama Over half (56%) of those who participated in 40% of those who participate in dance, didn’t go to watch a dance performance. drama – don’t go to watch plays. Is this a potential audience? 17
Section 3 Who are the demographics of our audience?
Where do we start? There is a large audience for theatre and dance right on our doorstep. You might be thinking, where are these people? What are their interests? What activities do they engage in? It’s a big nut to crack – but what we CAN do is start to understand it piece by piece. 19
What can today’s research tell us about audiences for theatre and dance? Where they generally live in Belfast Who they are more likely to be in terms of demographics What arts and cultural activities they like to engage in 20
Dance skews slightly younger than theatre 30% 25% 22% 22% 22% 22% 20% 19% 18% 16% 20% 15% 10% 0% 16-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Attenders at Plays/Drama Dance Attenders 21
The % of attenders with kids in the household was around what we would expect Children in the household 35% 33% 33% 30% 30% 30% 29% 28% 30% 26% 25% 24% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Outdoor Film attender Belfast Theatre Heritage Dance Music Literature Comedy Visual art/craft attender Residents attender attender attender attender attender attender attender Could this/should this be higher? 22
Theatre and Dance Attenders were less likely to have a disability than the average Belfast resident. Approximately Approximately Approximately 1 in in 20 1 in in 7 1 in in 16 Theatre and Dance Dance attenders Belfast residents attenders have a have a disability have a disability disability Best ratio: Heritage 1 in 14 This is an issue for every type of event. Poorest ratio: Comedy and Film jointly at 1 in 22
So far, nothing too surprising … Age Families Disability Theatre skews slightly Having children isn’t This is an issue older than dance, but still stopping people from across the board younger than the attending theatre or for all artforms. population generally. dance.
Predictions! Gender? Community? Location? 25
Theatre and Dance attenders were more likely to be female 70% 64% 61% 57% 56% 60% 55% 55% 55% 54% 49% What are men most likely 50% 51% to be attending? 46% 45% 45% 45% 40% 44% 43% 39% 36% • 30% Techno/Electronic (57%) • Jazz/Blues (55%) 20% • Public archives (54%) • 10% Comedy (51%) • Folk/Trad/World Music (51%) 0% Literature Dance Theatre Visual Outdoor Heritage Music Film Comedy attender attender attender art/craft attender attender attender attender attender attender MALE FEMALE
Theatre and dance attenders were less likely to be working class or below What are working class/non- working residents most likely Theatre 70% 30% to be attending? Dance 63% 37% • Circus arts (31%) • Bands (29%) Attendance generally 52% 48% • Techno/Electronic (29%) • Carnival/Parade (28%) Population 49% 51% • Pantomime (25%) • Rock/Pop/Country (23%) 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% • Museums and exhibitions (22%) Middle class and above Skilled working class and below • Big Outdoor Events (22%)
Theatre and dance attenders were less likely to be from Protestant communities 100% 90% What are Protestant 21% 29% - Protestant 37% 38% 80% communities most likely to be 70% attending? 23% 60% 28% - Other 22% 23% 50% • Big outdoor events (45%) • Rock/Pop Country Music (30%) 40% • Plays/Drama (26%) 30% 56% • Musicals (21%) 43% - Catholic 20% 40% 39% • Band events (20%) 10% 0% Play Drama Dance Attended Anything Population
Where are attendances at theatre and dance most popular? Less than 20% 40% to 50% 20% to 30% 30% to 40% 42% of South 33% of East Theatre Belfast 23% of West 31% of North residents 23% of South Dance 23% of North 13% of east 21% of West Theatre’s popularity varies more across the city. Dance attendance is particularly weak in East Belfast.
What did we find? Theatre most popular in More popular amongst More women than men South Belfast, Dance least middle class and above, less popular in East Belfast likely to be Protestant 30
Section 4 How do you share audiences?
Theatre and dance attenders are also interested in going to … 80% 71% 67% 70% 60% 55% 60% 54% 52% 51% 51% 49% 48% 47% 50% 35% 35% 35% 40% 34% 34% 32% 32% 31% 31% 30% 29% 30% 29% 29% 28% 28% 26% 30% 24% 22% 21% 20% 20% 18% 20% 14% 13% 12% 11% 10% 0% Plays/drama also go to … Dance also go to … As we would expect, the things people are more interested in generally are the ones which are most likely to be of interest to those attending theatre and dance events. 32
There’s a definite crossover with live cinema screenings of plays/dramas Going from live screenings: Going to live screenings: 35% of people seeing a play/drama had also been to see a live performance screening 70% Live Performance screening audiences are also a big part of the Play/Drama market. Had also seen a play or drama that year Hadn't seen one
Section 5 Wider Research
Theatre and Dance in ROI • National survey by Arts Council of Ireland – about all artforms. • 1000 people surveyed. • Some of what they found mirrors our Who Was Surveyed? Belfast research… The ROI research focused on the whole country • But there are some new insights too. (1000 people), while ours was Belfast-based (2,200 people).
Loyal arts fans in ROI – across all artforms • 19% of the population make up over half of all arts attendance. • So… important to keep them loyal. • These arts fans attend an average of 20.6 arts events in a year. • They attend a wide range of events – more than 5 different artforms. • 58% of them are ABC1F50+ • Tend to be younger than those who attend less often. • But little room to grow them..?
Motivations for attendance – the top 3 To have Like going to To spend time fun/enjoy that type of with friends myself event. and family 54% 30% 46% 38
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