Beautiful, Empty Seats: The Price of Inaccessible Art | Felix Ferris & Adrian Theisen | TEDxTWU

Key Concepts:

• Economic accessibility in theater
• Inclusive casting and roles
• Removing barriers to participation in theater
• Nonprofit theater vs. Broadway
• Classical adaptations and public domain texts
• Sustainability in theater
• Audience engagement and relatability

1. The State of Theater Audiences and Broadway's Influence

• Adrien Tyson and Felix Ferris, co-founders of Lamplight Theater Company, discuss the challenges facing the theater industry, particularly regarding audience attendance post-pandemic.
• Broadway attendance dropped by over two million people.
• Broadway is not representative of the broader professional theater industry due to its enormous capital.
• Broadway productions can cost between $9 million to $30 million to mount.
• Tickets to new Broadway musicals can cost hundreds of dollars, excluding travel and occupancy costs in New York City.

2. The Disparity Between Broadway and Nonprofit Theaters

• Broadway accounts for only 0.08% of total productions mounted annually in the United States (30-40 productions out of over 50,000).
• There are over 4,000 professional theater companies in the United States, excluding community theaters, which contribute an additional 46,000 productions annually.
• Broadway productions earned $3.18 billion in 2023 with 12.3 million attendees, plus an estimated 17 million attendees for touring productions.
• The nonprofit sector generated about $3.6 billion in the same year with 27 million attendees.
• Broadway extracts as much wealth as the entire nonprofit sector despite representing less than 1% of the total shows produced annually.
• Only 20-30% of Broadway productions result in capital recovery for investors.

3. The Economic Crisis and Accessibility in Nonprofit Theaters

• Nonprofit theaters have raised ticket prices by $3-$6 between 2019 and 2023, sometimes reaching $50-$60.
• Increased cost of living and availability of digital media have led to seating vacancies in nonprofit theaters.
• High ticket prices make theater a luxury, excluding potential audiences.
• Geography, class, and racial identity are barriers to accessing theater opportunities.
• The industry is saturated with part-time professionals and supported by affluent consumers due to exclusion.

4. Lamplight Theater Company's Approach to Accessibility

• Lamplight Theater Company was founded in 2024 to address the crisis of access in theater.
• Three guiding questions:
  • How can we make theater economically accessible to audiences?
  • How can we create roles that welcome a wider range of performers?
  • How can we help remove some of the barriers that prevent people from participating in the first place?
• Companies are rethinking who theater is for and trying to invite different audiences in.
• Examples of other organizations:
  • Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Pay-what-you-will performances.
  • Deaf West Theater: Reimagining classical musicals using spoken English and American Sign Language.
• Access is about whose voice is heard, who shapes the space, and who gets to stay and collaborate.

5. Practical Implementation and Classical Adaptations

• Lamplight Theater Company focuses on adapting and remediating classical narratives with fresher voices affordably.
• Using public domain texts to reduce overhead expenses (no royalties or licensing fees).
• Partnering with underutilized talent, such as students.
• Starting with staged readings instead of fully mounted productions.
• Partnering with a local music venue, Harvest House, which allows them to use their space without charging admission.
• Productions include: Beowulf, Frankenstein, Orpheus and Eurydice, A Christmas Carol, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight.

6. Audience Engagement and Impact

• Audience members with little to no experience in theater feel excited and not intimidated.
• Actors connect with difficult poetry.
• Patrons who had no prior understanding of Shakespeare were shocked at how funny and jarring the dialogue can be in Macbeth.
• Relatability builds relationships with audiences, who then support the company through donations.
• The first season reached around 300 patrons, earning $1,051 with an initial budget of $137.
• Audiences stay because the work reflects, includes, and respects them.

7. Conclusion

• Empty seats represent a failure to meet people where they are and provide important information for rebuilding.
• The key questions about economic accessibility, inclusive roles, and removing barriers are ongoing.
• The goal is not just to fill seats but to open doors.
• "When you make theater for people, people come. When you don't, they don't." - Adrien Tyson and Felix Ferris