Kicking Off the Conversation
Posted by Maria Maia on 7/07/2010
(Maria is a member of Steppenwolf For Young Adults‘ Young Adult Council)
Every year, TCG conference-goers have a discussion on how to better engage the next generation of theatre audiences, and much to their credit, they’ve come up with some great ideas (including Steppenwolf’s Young Adult Council). But not too long ago, Hallie Gordon, the Director of Steppenwolf for Young Adults, along with Rachel Fink, the Associate General Manager and Director at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, and Willa Taylor, the Director of Education and Community Engagement at Goodman Theatre, came up with an idea: why not cut out the middleman and ask young adults directly what brings them to the theatre? For the first time this past June, there were teens in attendance at the TCG National Conference in Chicago. And I was one of them.
I half-expected to be poked, prodded, then disregarded, but fortunately my experience was just the opposite. Over three days, I got to talk with leading theatre professionals, and the conversations were never one-sided. I learned about the ever-growing Devised Theatre scene, had lunch with insightful Chicago critics, and caught Mayor Richard M. Daley (live on camera) revealing the kind of theatre he likes is happening at Steppenwolf. The biggest highlight of the weekend had to be our breakout session, which centered on fostering the next generation of American theatre audiences.
On the last day of the conference, a group of about 20 teens (including myself) led a conversation on how to engage the next generation of American theatre-goers. Who knows better than the next generation itself? By start time, the room was completely packed with education staff and directors from around the country. It’s an odd experience being in a room with the teens talking and the adults listening, rigorously taking notes, but we dove right in. We talked about our individual teen council programs and what it is that we do, about what has worked for our theatres, what could work better, and about what appeals to teens in general.
We didn’t get the formula down to a science (as much as we would like to think it’s all about food, pricing, and programming). I don’t think it’s that easy; it’s an ongoing process, but we’re getting there. Though this is my last year on the Steppenwolf Young Adult Council, I plan on still being part of this national conversation. Next year, the TCG National Conference is in L.A. - so California, here I come.