Triple Play Convening
An initiative exploring what artists and administrators can do to entice casual ticket buyers to see more new plays.
16-17 January 2015 in Boston at Emerson College
The Triple Play Convening was co-organized by HowlRound, Theatre Development Fund (TDF), and Theatre Bay Area (TBA) and took place in Boston, Massachusetts in January 2015. Over a long weekend, participants explored the existing Triple Play research—including the one-on-one conversations with audience members—and discussed how it could be translated into concrete actions in their individual communities.
- View the complete agenda
- View the participant list
- Watch the video archive
- Read articles in the Triple Play journal series
Background Information: Laying the Groundwork
- You Know That Audience We Rarely Reach? It Really Wants to Talk by Mark Blankenship
- Triple Play Project Overview: A concise summary of Triple Play's mission and phases.
- Fostering an Appetite for New Work: Wolf Brown's initial study on fostering the audience's appetite for new work.
- Schwimmer-Voss Research: Zannie Voss and Jack Schwimmer's report on a TDF survey about new work that was sent to playwrights and artistic leaders.
- Audience Engagement Bright Spots: P. Carl's list of "bright spots" around audience engagement activity happening around the country.
Phase 1
TDF and TBA visited theatre artists and leaders in six cities around the country to discuss the audience's appetite for risk in new work.
- Phase 1 Highlights by Mark Blankenship: Mark Blankenship (TDF)'s notes on what was said.
- Phase 1 Highlights by Emma Jaster: Emma Jaster (TBA)'s notes on what was said.
Phase 2
In five cities, playwrights and theatre staffers host both focus groups and one-on-one interviews with single-ticket buyers who have recently attended at least one new play.
- Phase 2 Summary: A summary of how Phase 2 research was organized and conducted, as well as a list of participating theatres and playwrights.
- Focus Group Protocols: The protocols for the focus group interviews.
- Interview Protocols: The protocols for the one-on-one interviews.
- Focus Group Reports: A report from theatre leaders on what was learned from the audience focus groups.
- Interview Reports: A report from playwrights about what was learned from one-on-one interviews with audience members.