Theater halls are well filled again, but mainly with new young visitors
A tour of various theaters and music venues showed that after two shabby corona years, the cultural institutions are doing well again. Yet the pandemic has caused change, for example, it is mainly young visitors who buy tickets and theaters have to work hard to win back their loyal, often up, visitors.
In the corona years for many cultural institutions it was still questionable whether they could keep their heads above water, but now all corona measures been over for a while they seem so sure to climb out of the valley again. So does it DeLaMar Theatre. “It’s not always full, but we really see an upward trend. It takes a while,” says director Andreas Fleischmann. Also the director of the Kleine Komedie Jörgen Tjon A Fong is happy that his halls are filled again. “Tonight Daniel Arends is here, twice sold out. Thank goodness!”
Yet theaters are struggling to get their regular customers back. Especially since it is no longer a routine for many of them. “They think: I’m not going to buy a ticket six months in advance, because it will soon be shifted or merged again,” says Fleischman. So let DeLeMar extra care about their programming and how they die: “Because people decide later, it’s about when you try to get the attention of the audience. We are now more responsive.” According to Fleischmann, productions should also stand out more. That is why he focuses on major international productions.
Younger target group
In addition to the theaters that cater to a new younger audience. “In our programming we focus on young comedians. We really want to do our best in the early years to stimulate new talent, because people no longer visit the theatre,” says Tjon A Fong.
Still, it is not a lost cause to win back the older fans. “The loyal target group is more than ever welcome, but it takes longer to rebuild,” says Fleischmann.