What happens when we stop thinking of the audience as the people who simply show up to watch?
In this special episode of The Board of Directors, I’ve gone back through conversations with more than thirty directors I’ve interviewed over the years and pulled together their thoughts about audiences: who they are, why they come, what happens between them, and how directors might shape—or surrender control of—that experience.
Some of these directors think about the audience from the very beginning. Some think about audiences as collaborators, communities, witnesses, citizens, or even the main character. Some deliberately design the audience’s journey. Others insist they never think about the audience at all.
Together, their voices raise a question I’ve become increasingly obsessed with: How do a thousand individuals become an Audience?
This is not one director answering that question. It’s a conversation assembled from many directors, sometimes agreeing, sometimes contradicting each other, and sometimes asking questions I’m still trying to answer myself.
I call this practice Audience Making. But these directors don't necessarily use that language. They’re simply wrestling with what happens between the work and the people who experience it.
So, rather than tell you what I think Audience Making is, I thought I’d let them talk to each other.
Featuring excerpts from conversations with:
Anne Bogart, Benita de Wit, Brett Ashley Robinson, Simón Hanukai, Shaun Patrick Tubbs, Pirronne Yousefzadeh, Krish Natarajan, Mikhael Tara Garver, Bryan Doerries, Saheem Ali, Annie-B Parson, Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Nambi E. Kelley, Tlaloc Rivas, Onur Karaoğlu, Acadia Barrengos, Bill Rauch, and Chong Tze Chien.
To submit a question:
Voice- https://www.speakpipe.com/TheBoardofDirectors
Email- adam@boardofdirectors.world
Show Credits
Host: Adam Marple
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com/home
