In our marketing efforts for Sexy béton I, many things became both clearer and murkier about the changing world of the media and our role in it. It became clear that Porte Parole – as a documentary theatre company – must transcend the traditional world of the cultural media. Obviously, it’s still very important to get critics to our shows. But because our plays are drawn directly from the news headlines – and even occasionally help make the news headlines – we have to focus on civic reporters just as much as cultural commentators.
What became murkier? It’s still unclear which medium can best engage potential theatre-goers ; also, which one best does justice to the issues?
Does a review in Le Devoir – and we had a very positive one – translate to more ticket sales? Or is it more valuable to spread the word through blogs, such as Spacing? We already have word that Art Threat brought in people, and that within only two days of the show’s final night.
Given the last decade of relentless cuts to newspapers – even the CanWest media empire is seeking protection from its creditors – it seems impractical to rely exclusively on the press for effective coverage. The time and space devoted to theatre is shrinking. You might expect that every professional play opening in Montreal would warrant a preview or review; this is not the case.
The newsmedia also have a short attention span. For us, the collapse of the Concorde overpass has been a preoccupation of over a year. For the newsmedia, the 3rd anniversary of the tragedy was a one-day story. Forget that the dilapidated infrastructure and the policies responsible were decades in the making. The newsmedia typically condense these issues into five-minute clips or less. And once they’re broadcast, the reporters move on to the next day’s news.
Blogs, despite not having the resources of the newsmedia, still seem to offer a very fruitful place to build a constructive dialogue with potential audiences. Can any Montreal newspaper say it can match the singular purpose of Spacing in highlighting all of this city’s civic and infrastructure issues over the last few years? (Well, perhaps La Presse…)
I remember some pearls of wisdom from a friend of mine working at the David Suzuki Foundation, which are very pertinent to marketing during these transitional times from old to new media. He said, “It’s like throwing food at the wall. You just gotta try everything and see what sticks.”
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