Audience Development via Arts Engagement: The Case of "Paranara," an Original Korean Play

Abstract

Establishing a stable relationship with diverse audiences is an essential condition for any performing arts organization to be able to produce and supply high quality performing arts. This paper incorporates the term “arts engagement,” which describes “multiple, overlapping strategies that focus on expanding arts participation to diverse and/or low-income communities” (James Irvine Foundation, 2017). Incorporating the case study of a play titled "Paranara,” which means “Blue State,” co-produced by the Namsan Arts Center (NAC) and the New World (NW) theatre group, both of which are based in Seoul, Korea, this paper examines how a classical performing arts organization elicits active audience engagement in its performing arts productions and cultivates a participatory culture of a diverse group of audiences. The NAC and NW together designed a casting strategy that actively engages amateurs to play in the production of “Paranara.” Although mostly in a group scene, 58 actors (both pro and amateur) sing and shout together, comprising a grandiose crowd, overwhelming the audiences in a small theatre. The study uses Brown and Novak-Leonard’s (2011) Audience Involvement Spectrum (from Spectating, Enhanced Engagement, Crowdsourcing, Co-creation, to Audience as Artist) to analyze NW’s audience engagement strategy. The findings present compelling evidence that an arts engagement strategy which at first started in an effort to reduce production costs to cast actors and staff members, eventually also caused an increase in attendance via the networks of the participating audience members (Audience as Artist), thereby contributing to robust financial sustainability. The NW’s outreach strategy of operating an educational program and producing a repertoire allows audiences to function as amateur artists in the performances. Findings confirm that this strategy plays a significant role in cultivating a participatory culture of the audience and eventually contributes to the organization’s sustainable operation. The study also found that people who were engaged in the production of the play, “Paranara,” were more likely to be active in other forms of arts engagement, which made a difference in their lives, as well as in the lives of others. Students who participated in Paranara’s arts engagement program acknowledged that the arts engagement activities contributed to their capacity to achieve new levels of understanding, empathy, tolerance, as well as acceptance and connection across age, gender, and economic status. That is to say, the arts engagement activities helped to develop their capacity for civic engagement.