Living & Arts

Testing Facebook’s promotional potential for theater

In print | November 12, 2009

Viral videos and social networking sites have been advertising destinations for years. Multi-million dollar international corporations have tried to create video advertisements that are clever enough to collect a viral (and free) following. But new to the scene are theater companies, the small, struggling artist groups who can’t dedicate a part of their funds to publicity.

In preparation for their newest play, which opened last Wednesday, InterAct Theatre uploaded a video to YouTube that compiled footage from stage fighting rehearsals, including elaborate professional wrestling moves and an amusing cameo of the show’s very petite dramaturg getting “power bombed,” set to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.” The video was entertaining and appealing, but with just over 500 views, it doesn’t exactly qualify as “viral.”

In addition to testing out the YouTube vehicle, Philadelphia area theater artists and collectives are trying out Facebook pages. The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, which promotes and supports local theater in addition to hosting the annual Barrymore Awards, is a fan of 37 pages on Facebook. Among those pages are groups like the Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe Festival and individual Philadelphia area theater companies, who have jumped on the opportunity to open more lines of communication with their audiences. Naturally, the “wall” of Theatre Alliance page is all publicity, consisting of a steady stream of status updates, event promotions, photo albums and videos.

What is surprising is the number of “fans” (as Facebook labels them) — 1,313 people as of 6 p.m. on Nov. 1. The comparable page for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance had only 737. As for individual theatre companies, the Arden Theatre seems to be doing better than its peers in the business, with 938 fans, while the page for Theatre Exile is just as frequently updated and informative as the Arden’s, if not more so, but has a mere 647 followers. The Walnut Street Theatre, which arguably specializes in more accessible content like musicals and comedies, has only 589.

The fans on Facebook are fellow theater artists, theater students, subscribers and politicians. Ages vary, but for the most part, the fans are people who already have some connection to the organization. One cannot help but wonder if the pages are actually doing anything to boost the companies’ visibility.

The answer is likely “yes.” One of the Facebook features that accompanied the reinvention of the News Feed awhile back was the advent of the “Suggestions” box. Now, whenever a member decides to become a fan of a page, the site can suggest that same page to all of that member’s friends. For lesser-known groups, the suggestion means increased visibility, and about getting their name out there, even if they don’t get “fans” right away.

Terry Nolen, the artistic director of the Arden, often concludes his pre-show speech at the premiere of a new show by saying something along the lines of, “Word of mouth is our best form of publicity, so if you like the show, please tell your friends. If you don’t like the show, please tell your enemies.” Facebook’s suggestion feature is like an accidental word-of-mouth recommendation. However easy it is to ignore, it is better than nothing and delightfully free.

Some groups have tried to take this one step further, making pages and videos specific to individual productions, or even characters in a play. New Paradise Laboratories used Facebook to an extreme degree in the months prior to the Live Arts festival this Fall, when their production “Fatebook: Avoiding Catastrophe One Party At A Time” hit the stage. Each character had their own Facebook page, which they updated regularly. In the end, the “Fatebook” cast and crew had uploaded 65 videos and had friend lists that rivaled those of the actual performers. Part of the goal of the production was to incorporate Internet culture into the live performance, so “Fatebook” is, understandably, an extreme example, but it represents am increasing trend in theater.

More and more, the live arts are hoping that Internet buzz will translate into bodies in the seats. The Internet presents a golden opportunity for the theater company that masters its alchemy. Once a person is a fan of a page or a subscriber to a YouTube channel, they can be contacted through messages or new video alerts. This opens up a direct line of communication between the audience members and the director of public relations.

A new era in theater could begin if someone found the right formula for turning an Internet following into a subscribing audience. For the time being, it’s a just pipe dream, fed by the already loyal followers and friends of local theaters.