Current Starting Points to Audience Development in Slovak Theatres
Current Starting Points to Audience Development in Slovak Theatres

Summary/Abstract: The term “audience development” is entangled with a number of definitions that differ in their meaning. While working with the audiences was considered to be primarily a marketing tool to ensure an increase in the number of spectators and lead to the economic stability of cultural institutions, in several European countries and, particularly, at the level of the cultural policies of European institutions, the perspectives of working with the audiences gradually developed into a more inclusive approach and people began to talk about access to culture for all. In this study, the author zooms in on a number of definitions of audience development formulated by theoreticians and culture managers prevailingly in English-speaking countries (Steven Hadley, Nobuko Kawashima) and national and European cultural policy makers. Based on the identification of several aspects of audience development, she also ponders whether discussions about audience development are taking place in Slovakia just like in other European countries, what direction the issues of audience development follow in the field of theatre culture in Slovakia, and who is their initiator.

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