Engaging Audiences

This chapter concerns itself with developments in contemporary Scottish theatre that relate specifically to the expansion and consolidation of audiences beyond those typically engaged by theatre made in subsidised urban venues for adult audiences. It includes discussion of large participatory online theatre projects, in situ community projects with unusually long gestation periods, rural touring, theatre for children and young audiences, and populist theatre designed to reflect the concerns and aesthetic preferences of working-class audiences. Its aim is to demonstrate that Scotland’s contemporary theatre-makers have devised new methods for attracting audiences and found that the creative landscape of the devolved nation presents new opportunities.