The use of social media by theatre practitioners and audiences in contemporary society

Abstract

A recent phenomenon that revolutionised human communication and culture is social media. This also impacted the arts as a tool for artists to use. In my dissertation I discuss and analyse how theatre practitioners can make the best use of social media and how it affects the audience. Furthermore, I consider how the community choose, discuss, and share their experience of a particular performance using this medium. In the present day, theatre practitioners move to social media to share their work before, during, and after their performances. Less then a decade ago various other non-digital social medias like posters, leaflets, and TV or radio advertisements were used to share and promote work of theatre makers. Now these channels are largely replaced by social media or engaged within the social media itself. I also analyse if and how social media is reaching for a wider spectrum of audiences in our society. This will be mainly covered by looking into how it is affecting Maltese communities and why it is making more people engage with theatre work. Arguably, social media has changed the audience’s experience of a theatrical production. Social media has made it possible for people from different areas in society to share their views and critiques both with the general public and with theatre practitioners themselves. All of these commentaries generate data for theatre practitioners and scholars, including ways to inspect how audiences are perceiving theatre and how performances can improve and be delivered in a better manner to the public.