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Jo Caird: As Seen On TV? - When Theatre Looks to Television for Audiences

Watching Downton Abbey on Sunday night, I was surprised to see an advert for the National Theatre's production of War Horse in the West End. I don't watch a lot of television, so theatre adverts on TV aren't something I've ever really been aware of, and it got me thinking.

I wrote a little while ago about theatre trailers, basically concluding that I dislike them because they don't convey much of what makes theatre theatre, ie. its liveness (see below for the link). But I think this is a slightly different issue. Lots of companies make trailers for shows these days, but you won't see them on TV. They're posted to theatre websites such as this one, circulated on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook and made available on theatre companies' websites for prospective punters to check out. In other words, they're seen largely by people seeking them out, people who already go to the theatre and are trying to decide whether or not to see a particular show.

TV adverts, on the other hand, are viewed passively by people who happen to be watching whatever programme the adverts are interrupting. I almost wrote 'accidentally', rather than 'passively', but of course there's nothing accidental about a process that is meticulously planned by marketeers drawing on a wealth of audience demographics statistics. If you see an advert for one of the few shows that are occasionally advertised on TV, it's because a calculated risk has been taken that you will be receptive to it.

If you're interested in Downton Abbey, you might be up for going to see War Horse, another drama set around the time of the First World War. If you're a fan of Glee, you might also enjoy the musical Wicked. If you're into wildlife documentaries, you'd probably get a kick out of The Lion King. Okay, I made that last one up, but still, you get the idea.

What's encouraging about the fact that theatre productions are increasingly being advertised on television is that advertisers are making their assumptions on what will sell to whom based on audience transferability. I don't want to be premature in my optimism here, or to read too much into a set of decisions that have been made based purely on a desire to increase profits of West End shows, but it's great news that advertisers are acknowledging that there is enough of an audience crossover between theatre and television to make this presumably very pricy advertising worthwhile.

Theatre is never going to be as mainstream as television – even if every other barrier is removed, television is always going to be the easier, and therefore more popular option, because you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own home. But it seems like finally the two art forms are getting closer together in terms of their audiences.

The War Horse TV campaign is undoubtedly the most promising of the examples I've given. Television audiences are already familiar with West End musicals via the influence of programmes such as How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and Over the Rainbow, where members of the public go through an extended, publicly voted audition process in the hope of being cast in a leading West End musical theatre role. Straight plays are less familiar, and, given that they are still regarded as elitist, where musicals are not, are a more difficult sell. If just a few of the 10 million or so people that watch Downton Abbey each episode (this number is based on the viewing figures for the first series), decide to take a chance on War Horse and like what they see (and why wouldn't they, it's a brilliant show), that's thousands of potential new theatre-goers, who will hopefully go on to take further chances on other shows.

I still don't think theatre trailers, whether on TV or not, do their productions justice, but if they can tempt new audiences into theatres, I'm certainly willing to give them a chance.

- by Jo Caird

Any opinions expressed above do not represent the view of Whatsonstage.com nor any of its staff or contributors beyond the bylined author.

Jo Caird is a freelance arts journalist and has been deputy Off-West End editor of Whatsonstage.com since June 2009. Jo tweets at @JoCaird. Her personal website is JoCaird.com

Related Content

Booking Tickets & Show Listings
	War Horse Listing Page

Other Posts By Jo Caird
	Globe to Globe Blog: Jo Caird on The Taming of the Shrew & The Comedy of Errors - 4th Jun 2012 blog
	Globe to Globe Blog: Jo Caird on As You Like It & Love's Labour's Lost - 2nd Jun 2012 blog
	Globe to Globe Blog: Jo Caird on a Korean Dream & the first production from a brand new nation - 1st May 2012 blog
	Jo Caird: Theatre goes green - 27th Feb 2012 blog
	Jo Caird: Three cheers for the NT & subsidised theatre - 22nd Feb 2012 blog
	Jo Caird: Should there be a SOLT for London's Off West End? - 15th Feb 2012 blog
	Jo Caird: Survey puts Fringe audiences in the spotlight - 8th Feb 2012 blog
	Jo Caird: The trouble with statistics - 2nd Feb 2012 blog
	Jo Caird: The changing face of arts journalism - 24th Jan 2012 blog
	Jo Caird: My top 100 theatre people to follow on Twitter - 19th Jan 2012 blog
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Internal Links
	Jo Caird: Theatre Trailers - Dishonesty & Disappointment - 12th Apr 2011 Blog
	Live Tweeting: #WOSOuting to War Horse at the New London Theatre - 1st May 2013 features
	Michael Coveney: So, who wants to run the National Theatre after Hytner? - 11th Apr 2013 blog
	War Horse charges on - show extends to Feb 2014, new cast announced - 28th Jan 2013 news
	Photos: War Horse fifth anniversary gala - 26th Oct 2012 photos
	National announces details of War Horse's first UK tour - 2nd Oct 2012 news
	Brief Encounter with ... Michael Morpurgo - 11th Sep 2012 interviews
	Photos: Morpurgo on stage with War Horse for Kids Week Q&A - 17th Aug 2012 news
	Photos: War Horse makes Olympic appearance - 2nd Aug 2012 news
	Plays Cast: New War Horse Company, Almeida Bernarda - 8th Nov 2011 news
	National Plans War Horse UK Tour from Autumn 2013 - 20th Oct 2011 news
	- 1st Jan 1970
	Brief Encounter With ... Handspring Puppet Company's Adrian Kohler - 5th Sep 2011 interviews
	Handspring & Morris Reunite for New Project??? - 30th Aug 2011 gossip
	Plays Extend: Court Soup & Bike, War Horse, Steps - 15th Jun 2011 news
	War Horse & Rylance Triumph at Tony Awards - 13th Jun 2011 news
	Jerusalem & War Horse Lead UK Tony Nominees - 3rd May 2011 news
	Will War Horse Be a Hit on Broadway??? Reviews Are In! - 15th Apr 2011 gossip
	War Horse Makes £13.2m for 'Full Throttle' National - 6th Oct 2010 news
	Plays Extend: West End War Horse, Court Empire - 28th Apr 2010 news
	War Horse - 6th Apr 2009 reviews
	War Horse Gallops into New London Transfer, 3 Apr - 18th Dec 2008 news