But was it artistically vibrant? An analysis of the audience response to a community performance

This article examines audience response data from a young people’s community music-theatre performance in Victoria, Australia in 2013. The performance was created by groups of culturally diverse emerging artists and community members working with professional participatory artists. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodology, the article considers what the data do and do not reveal about who this audience was, how its members responded to the performance and what can be concluded from this information regarding what culturally diverse audience members who do not normally attend arts events want from the performing arts. This data analysis is considered in relation to audience reception theory and the literature concerning the term ‘artistic vibrancy’. The article considers barriers to engagement in the arts faced by community audiences, and looks at whether the community arts sector has anything to offer the mainstream performing arts industry in the light of research showing that the audience for this industry has declined in Victoria over the last five years and is now an ageing demographic.