This piece of work for Oxford City Council (OCC) was for the production of a development strategy for the New Theatre, Oxford that would:
Indicate desirable changes at the New Theatre to better serve the interests of Oxford and the surrounding area
Provide advice on effective tactics to enable necessary improvements to be achieved
Central to Emma’s response to the brief was:
Balancing the generation of income with drives to provide community access and support the city’s cultural infrastructure
Investigating creative approaches to audience development to enthuse target groups who were currently excluded from using the venue
Exploring ways in which audiences could be encouraged to ‘cross over’ and engage with a range of cultural offer across the performing arts venues within Oxford to the benefit of all facilitating a much greater degree of partnership working
Addressing the current perception of the New Theatre amongst the artistic and local community which was confused at best, at worst, disillusioned and disengaged
This was a very interesting piece of work and the final report was very favourably received by stakeholders. The methodology included a potent mix of desk research and analysis of strategic documents, an audience survey on the New Theatre and extensive consultation with the sector both within Oxford and from those touring companies that might present there. The benchmarking exercise combined a blend of one to one interviews with thorough desk and internet research producing a range of potential market models to enable the New Theatre to fulfil its maximum potential.
|