If you’ve been to a theater lately and observed the audience, you’ve likely seen a sea of gray hair. It’s never been a surprise that live theatrical performances attract predominantly an older audience. Ticket prices and access to disposable income certainly play a factor. But often programming takes the hit with assertions that anything less than ‘of the moment’ work just isn’t attractive to the 20-something crowd.
And then you attend a show at Classical Theatre Company. For a company that produces exclusively classic works, think the Greeks, Ibsen and Shaw etc., it’s remarkable that mature patrons are often outnumbered or at least matched by a distinctly younger, audience. And not just younger, young and diverse.
It’s wonderful to see, but how do they do it? How have they managed to grab hold of what some may call a unicorn audience base?
“We’ve always drawn on the younger side overall, about 1/3 of our audience is under the age of 25,” says Classical Executive Artistic Director, John Johnston who cites the academic relevance of the work they produce as the main driver.
“The plays that we produce weren’t written to be read, they were written to be performed and so when the opportunity arises to have them performed and we’re the only company in Houston that does this type of work on a regular basis, universities, colleges and often high schools are very supportive.”
Supportive in this case for Classical means that English departments, literature courses, honors colleges and occasionally high schools buy group tickets for their students to attend performances.
Tapping into this ever-replenishing audience didn’t happen by chance.
“Early on it was a lot of pushing ourselves,” says Johnston. “We physically went to the schools and as much as possible promoted ourselves and over time that became self-propagating as departments and instructors signed up for our newsletters and contacted us about performances.”
The real gold hits if Classical happens to produce a play that’s part of a class curriculum. When the company did Medea last season it just so happened that the Honors College at the University of Houston was teaching the work that semester and therefore bought out a significant number of tickets for the show.
This begs the question, why doesn’t Classical coordinate with schools to align productions/course materials for a win/win?
Johnston says he’s not keen to rely on outside input for seasonal programming choices nor does the timing of the plays they produce necessarily fall in line with academic curricula.
“For example, most Theatre History/Intro to Theatre/Dramatic Literature courses proceed chronologically,” says Johnston. “If we looked to adhere to academic teaching schedules, we’d paint ourselves into a corner in that our fall shows would be limited to early theater, and spring to more modern theater.”
Besides, he notes, “The professors and teachers that are most likely to teach our material, already follow us closely so that when we do produce a play that they might teach (and it aligns with the timing of their curricula), they will add it into their teaching schedule, or at the very least encourage their students to attend.”
Perhaps the most compelling of Johnston’s arguments is the company would no longer have room to produce lesser-known works like Ubu Roi, The Ghost Sonata and R.U.R., among others. No question this would be a real loss for Houston audiences and squash the spirit of getting interesting classical work off the dusty shelf and onto the stage afresh.
In addition to the school pipeline, it’s precisely what happens on the Classical stage that attracts even more young people to their shows.
While the company may produce classical works, they’re not putting up doublet and hose productions. Their shows are faithful to the text and not modern for modern sake, but neither are they set in glass and without experiment. This kind of reputation certainly helps draw in a younger audience not looking for a staid experience.
The actor mix of the shows is also a boon.
“One of the things I feel very strongly about is training the next generation of performers and theater practitioners,” says Johnston. “Classical tries to bring in three or four young people a production for mostly smaller parts in a play and a lot of these folks are college kids, sometimes high school students. That in itself brings in a young audience of friends to support.”
This younger audience is something that Johnston says is energizing for him and his company. He describes them as generally extremely responsive rather than looking to be impressed – bringing joyful energy to productions that isn’t always present with older audiences.
But there is a flip side.
“They don’t always know the best theater etiquette, like showing up on time or getting up to use the restroom in the middle of a show,” says Johnston while noting that theater misbehavior isn’t limited to the 20-something crowd.
The bigger issue perhaps is that younger patrons don’t have the money to donate or provide ongoing support to the company. Additionally, thanks to Classical’s policy of pricing student (and teacher) tickets at $10, younger audiences are paying 1/3 of the regular ticket price.
“There is a give and take here,” says Johnston. It’s not like I’m taking their ticket away from anyone, so they are contributing to our bottom line. For 17 seasons the model has been financially viable. We’ve been able to make it work thus far and there is no shortage of college students; they don’t disappear.”
Do any of the students come back to see further Classical shows? Some do. Some may go on to see shows at other companies. Both are positive outcomes for Johnston, who hopes that younger audiences aren’t just learning about the plays they see at Classical, but about the act and excitement of going to the theater, period.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
