Public summit in Zurich – too awake, too diverse? What will the audience think of the theater? – Culture
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Bourgeois circles in Zurich put the theater in the pillory. A public summit should calm the waves. What’s next for the peacock?
For whom do the theaters make their theatre? For the audience! But the audience sometimes sees things differently and feels that they are not addressed enough. The program was too awake, too diverse and passed the Zurich bourgeoisie, complained about parts of the theater audience and the local press.
The program is well received at festivals and in the national press. In order to create clarity, the theater invited to the audience summit. In addition, there was a survey last year whose Result can be viewed online.
Who is “the” audience?
The fact that “the” audience doesn’t exist was probably the central realization of the evening. Schauspielhaus co-intendant Nicolas Stemann stated that the “Zurich population” cannot simply be equated with a certain middle-class class. “If you are now striving for an opening, it suddenly becomes very complicated.”
Who is the city, who is meant and who is heard? THIS DEBATE IS CURRENTLY BEING TAKEN AT SEVERAL CITY THEATER. At the Zurich audience summit, it became a guiding principle of the discussion.
A first step towards an exchange
However, the evening may end up being more of a panel event. The setting made sure of that: with eight representatives of the theater on the stage and the audience in the hall. In three discussion blocks, they discussed the artistic programme, the concept of municipal theater and the theater as a meeting place. Then moderator Tobi Müller opened the round for questions.
Relatively long panels, relatively little room for audience participation. Not a missed opportunity, but perhaps a start: a first step on the way to a real exchange.
A diverse city needs a diverse house
The house was about two-thirds full: with older and younger audiences. There were likely to be wishing for play performances as they were played many years ago. There were certainly those who did not yet count themselves among the cultural elite, but “maybe slowly becoming one, thank you”, thanks to the Schauspielhaus. There were certainly those who called for not wanting to please everyone. And probably the proposals to designate a special “target audience” for each production.
Behind everything is the big question: Who feels addressed, who feels left out? And related: Who is the city and whose voice is audible? Here, a municipal theater has to perform a completely different function today than it did 70 years ago. There was also a lot of support from the audience – and by no means only from the younger generation.
Lots of open questions
Practical points were also raised: that it would be nice if you could read the lyrics in the program, or the bad acoustics in the foyer.
Unanswered questions about how the house can better reach its audience. Perhaps with more emphasis on the ensemble with which the city can identify and which it always wants to see anew?
In addition, there was a recent promise: the coming season should open with a really big ensemble piece.
Radio SRF 2 Kultur, cultural news, January 19, 2023, 4:12 p.m.