Our course is designed for professional artists and theatre staff interested in running audience development programmes at their theatre.
The 2021/2022 course is funded by the EEA and Norway Grants and is therefore free of charge. Participants need to cover travel, accommodation, and meal costs during the four sessions. The capacity of this course is limited and applicants will be accepted based on a motivation letter submitted along with an application.

This year-long programme comprises four inspiring weekend sessions that introduce the practice as well as the      theory of audience development in theatres. Sessions take place at representative cultural institutions to allow first-hand experience of working with local in-house theatre educators. The host institutions are National Theatre, National Moravian-Selasian Theatre, Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts, and Drak Theatre. The core sessions which focus on the following topics are complemented by additional themed online events.

WATCH THE VIDEO FROM THE COURSE (with english subtitles)

Arts education

This module is a practical introduction of the current state of arts education in the Czech Republic, including its advantages and challenges. You will work on your creative and didactic skills using a set of activities and exercises which you can later use in working with the audience. You learn concrete examples of complementary audience development programmes related to drama, ballet, opera and musical theatre.

Theatre audience development

Our approach to audience development is based on leaving the passive consumer role of the audience behind and turn for being an active partner.

We will focus on the benefits and pitfalls of particular formats of audience development and their practical use. As part of the programme, you will attend several unconventional events concerning audience development at the National Theatre.

Communication with the audience

This module introduces changes in the perception of drama language from the perspective of developmental psychology. We will discuss audience feedback and the role of communication between creators and the public. You will learn about different ways to communicate with schools and why maintaining collaboration with teachers is important. In addition, we will go through best practices in community audience development in the Czech Republic and abroad for your inspiration.

The work of a theatre educator

This part of the course focuses on the fundamental format, i.e. a production-themed workshop. You will learn to identify a topic appropriate for a given target audience group, structure the workshop, and write an annotation Also, summarizing all the parts of the theatre educator profession and practical examples of his work will give you a good starting point for your beginning with the audience development.