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New Economics Foundation
In 2008, the Independent Theatre Council, the
Society of London Theatre and the Theatrical
Management Association released a guidebook for
theatres that they had commissioned from the New
Economics Foundation (NEF). While the publication
is intended as a practical manual to conducting
post-show surveys for purposes of internal evaluation
at theatres and is thus not a research report as
New Economics Foundation, 2008, Capturing
the audience experience: A handbook for
the theatre, commissioned by Independent
Theatre Council, The Society of London
Theatre and Theatrical Management
Association.
such, it is noteworthy that the dimensions of the audience experience that they
propose to measure largely correspond with Brown and Novak-Leonard’s intrinsic
impact indicators (Table 1), with some variation in language and emphasis.
As with Brown and Novak-Leonard’s work, the authors of the NEF study sought
a more comprehensive understanding of the audience experience than could be
captured on the basis of a singular satisfaction measure. They write,
The Audience Experience Framework is not intended to define what ‘good’ or
‘high-quality’ theatre looks like. Whether or not a piece of theatre is successful
depends on how well it achieves its aims. However, the Framework is intended to
encourage new ways of thinking about just what these aims are, and about how
to demonstrate that a performance, a series of shows or even a whole season’s
work was ‘successful’ in its own terms. (15-16, emphasis is in the original)
Given the objective of developing a set
of survey tools that would be of practical
use to theatre professionals, NEF derived
indicators from an online survey of 2,500
regular theatre-goers and a series of interviews
with theatre professionals, rather
than from an abstract theory of impact or
value (12). The authors tested and refined
their survey protocols in four pilot tests,
and some of the findings of these pilots are
presented for purposes of illustration.
Interestingly, the authors of the NEF
handbook share Brown and Novak-
Leonard’s opinion that engagement and
concentration (‘captivation’ in Brown and
Figure 5 NEF’s Audience Experience Framework
Engagement and concentration
Learning and challenge
Energy and tension
Shared experience and atmosphere
(NEF 2008, 14)
The Audience Experience Framework
Personal resonance and
emotional connection
Overall
evaluation
Measuring Individual Impact: Post-Event Surveying 66
UNDERSTANDING the value and impacts of cultural experiences