Please enter your email address
Sign in to Google to save your progress. Learn more
Email *
This document has been developed to assist theatre makers to create outdoor performances to engage a specific audience interactively with a local challenge or issue.

The document is interactive and designed to guide theatre makers though a process enabling the creation of a project that embraces public engagement in its truest form.

What we mean by public engagement here is a two-way process between the targeted audience and those creating the performance.

This is not a process for making a theatrical ‘public information film’ or simply imparting knowledge or instructions to an intended audience. Rather, this process aids the creation of an interactive performance. One that encourages dialogue and actions from everyone who is affected by, or can help with, the issue or challenges in question before, during and after the performances.

If this is the kind of public engagement you are hoping to develop then please look at the checklist below to see if outdoor performance is the right medium for you.
Is Outdoor Arts the right form for you?

If you can tick each box as a yes - continue to create a brief and a plan.
 *
Captionless Image
Required
After completing all the sections you'll be asked to click the submit button at the bottom.  You'll then receive an email with your responses.  Use this to create your performance.  

Click the Submit at the bottom at any time to save your work.

Each time you save your work you will receive an updated email. During development, your ideas will of course change.  Return to this form, make your changes and press submit again - you will get a new email containing all your new ideas.  

We want you to use the questions, provocations and actions below as a tool.  One that will entertain, educate and create positive change.

Please allow at least an hour for each section. Some sections cannot be completed until other sections have been actioned.

Don't forget:  Click the Submit button to save your work. 
Questions Section 1 of 3
What do you want to discuss?
What specifically do you want to engage the public with?
- please only have one goal here - too many subjects mean none will be covered effectively or in any depth.
What do your audience already know, and what experience and knowledge do they have that you don’t?
- e.g. lived experience of the subject matter.
What experience and knowledge do you have that the audience don’t?
- e.g. research into subject matter.
What is the challenge for your chosen audience?
- what do you want your audience to do after the performance. E.g. talk to the performers, or be motivated to change.
Questions Section 2 of 3  

Where will you do it?
- remember when answering these questions, your answer to an earlier question may change as you consider others. Review your answers at the end of the section.
What is the best place to engage with your audience?
- create a list of potential locations.


What time of day would your performance be?
- consider when your audience will be most at leisure to engage with the performance. 
What other activities will be taking place around the same time as your intended performance?
- list potential activities both for your intended audience and other activities external to them.  
What would people be doing in this place if your performance wasn’t there?
- list activities normally happening in your chosen locations.
What are the natural places for performance?
- what would the ideal performance space be, consider how the audience will be able to see, how will they be able to interact.
Where will your audience be?
- is there space for the audience. 
How big will your audience be?
- 10, 200 or 2000? Consider how many of the audience will be there already, will it be possible to engage them all at once?  
How will the audience interact with the show before, during and after the performance?
- you cannot know for certain.  List some informed guesses and hopes based on what you know your intended audience will be comfortable with, in terms of interaction, or what they might be easily persuaded to do.
Important:  Click the Submit button at the bottom to save your work as you go.  You will be sent an email each time capturing your responses so far.  
Questions Section 3 of 3  
Who are your audience ?
Is there a specific age group you want to engage?
Is there a preferred gender you want to engage with?
What other characteristics might define the community you want to engage?
- e.g. race, physical ability, interests, cultural preferences etc.

Why is your target audience at your chosen performance space?

How do your audience normally communicate with each other?
- e.g. in person, via social media, by phone
What cultural activities do your audience already engage in?
- consider more specifically than just listing an artform, what kind of music event or festival would they attend. What film or TV would they watch?
Planning: section 1 of 5  
Research planning
Create a focus group to help refine your subject matter and form. Make sure one voice is not better represented than another. 
Which experts do you need
- consider what specialist knowledge you require.
Who do you need from the community you are engaging?
- think about community leaders, but also about those with more marginalised voices, to create a variety of opinion and knowledge.
Who do you need with skills from outside either group?
- create an agenda for first meeting for focus group, around what is it you need to know to create the show. Remember you have already considered many of the agenda items below yourself, think about how you can frame the agenda, so you are getting fresh opinions. 

You will probably need to rethink some of your earlier answers in light of the meeting.

Create an agenda for first meeting for your focus group, around what is it you need to know to create the show. Below are some suggested agenda items, your answers are your preparation notes.

What do the community know about the chosen theme?

What are the gaps in knowledge in the community?

What do the experts know about the chosen theme?
What are the gaps in the experts knowledge?
Who else might we need to fill these gaps?
What do the community like doing actively?
- ask about more broadly than culture, what about local games, habits or events.
When is it best to do the performances?
Actions from the first focus group meeting.

- remember: It's important that all the agenda items create actions

- each agenda item should have an action, which could take a number of forms.

•  changing existing information

• research something further

 • creating something. 

• remember to ascertain who is going to do each action and by what date.

Remember: Create agenda for 2nd meeting based on action points from the 1st, the focus group meetings are to assist you creating your story board.
Important:  Click the Submit button at the bottom to save your work as you go.  You will be sent an email each time capturing your responses so far.  
Planning: section 2 of 5  
Creating a Storyboard

What question is the performance asking?

(Max 25 words)

What do you want your audience to be thinking about or discussing the next day?

(Max 25 words)

What would you like your audience to be actively doing in one weeks time?

What about 1 month or one year?

Create a list of metaphors for your subject matter that use perhaps local sports, games, habits or events?

Which is the best metaphor?

- what memorable visual images can you think of to illustrate the best metaphor?

- if no visual images occur to you, this probably means it's not the most useful metaphor, try this process on one of your other metaphors.

How could an audience, as well as the performers be involved in creating these visual images?

What very simple narrative can you think of that connects these visual images?

ACTION: Create a rough storyboard involving the images and narrative

- do not try and write a script or complete the content for every scene. It is important that your performance group create a lot of the content. 

This way, the performer will have creative input into the performance, as well as feeling more comfortable as they are performing something they've invented themselves.

Example Sample Storyboard
Scene 1
Example Sample Storyboard
Scene 2
Example Sample Storyboard
Scene 3
Example Sample Storyboard
Scene 4
Example Sample Storyboard
Scene 5
Planning: section 3 of 5  

Assembling the performance team

What is the minimum number of people you need to create all the visual images in your storyboard?

What is the maximum number of people you could have before the images become too crowded?

Between these two numbers what is the best number of people?

Note: Performance/ creative team should be composed of creative professionals and people from both the communities you are targeting and experts/ professionals/ workers from the subject in question in more or less equal numbers.

Planning: section 4 of 5

Creating an Advert for Non-Professional Performers
What is it you want them to do?
- will it involve movement or rhythm; will it involve speaking?
What is the purpose of the performance?
- this should be a brief outline what the performance will be and why it is being made.
What is the participants' time commitment?
- dates AND times are important – what is their actual time commitment.
What will they get out of it?
- what skills will they learn, will it be fun, whom will they be working with.
What will you provide?
- consider whether you will provide transport, food, etc. remember you are asking people to volunteer their time, it should not cost them anything to participate.

What action or subject for an image can you use to make it look interesting and exciting?

Who do you need in terms of creatives to make the performance work?
- make sure you have enough professionals in outdoor arts, music, design etc.. to enable the non professionals to feel supported but not outnumbered and less skilled.
ACTION: Create an advert for the creatives
- same questions as for non-professional performers advert, but with the addition of what essential skills the applications need for the role and what the payment would be.
Important:  Click the Submit button at the bottom to save your work as you go.  You will be sent an email each time capturing your responses so far.  
Planning: section 5 of 5   

Planning for Rehearsals

Return to your story board - does any of this need amending since it was written?

Clear selection

From your storyboard, write the purpose of each scene.

From the purpose of each scene, create a list of games and exercises to allow the performance group to fill these scenes with their own content.

Create a list of suitable music for both an atmosphere in the room at the start of each day and music to assist the mood needed for each scene 
- music chosen should be in styles familiar or popular with your audience.

Set two dates for two sets of rehearsals, with a gap in between. One for creating the content, the second (after costumes, props and sets have been made) for rehearsing the content.

Advice: section: 1 of 4

Rehearsal Considerations and Tips: The Process Part 1

• allow enough time for the non professionals to learn the skills required.

• introduce the skills required before application to the subject matter – not at the same time.

• make sure you go outside to try small things out with members of the public – do not conduct everything in a rehearsal room.

• put photos of the performance around the rehearsal space.

• if something is not working over a period of time, move on and have a think about a different approach for later or the next day.

• make a very rough run of the show for the end of the rehearsal period to show to an invited audience (e.g. your focus group) for feedback.

• make sure you have a good way of collecting feedback, ask the audience to write answers to prepared questions.
Advice: section: 2 of 4

Rehearsal Considerations and Tips: The Process Part 2

• rewrite your storyboard from the feedback from rehearsal process part 1.

• allow enough time for each scene – don’t rehearse one scene for two days and three scenes in an afternoon, as that is all the time you have left.

• be very clear what the whole show is and what every part is for, so you can answer any questions easily from the cast. If they know why they are doing something it’s easier to remember what they are doing and to do it with conviction.

• allow space for continued invention by the cast – e.g., if there is a dance already choreographed and someone does something new – incorporate it.

• don’t worry about making people do the same routine many times – it takes longer for non-professionals to remember routines.

• always finish the day going over what you have done – both to cement it in the minds of the participants and finish each day on an achievement.
Advice: section: 3 of 4 
 
Trial Performance

• finish rehearsal process part 2 with one or two performances in the spaces and with the audiences you are trying to engage or at least similar. 

• make sure you have a way of collecting feedback at the
performance that is suitable for the audience in question. Use the feedback to give notes to the cast and to inform any future tweaks to the performance.
 • do the performance at the same time of day as you would intend to do the final performances.
Advice: section: 4 of 4

Creating a production schedule considerations and tips

•  each line on your production schedule should have who, what, where and when columns.

• make your working day as short as possible without making it rushed.

• only call people to arrive when they are needed, and allow them to leave a soon as they are no longer needed.

• what can you do the day before the performance day to save time on the day.  E.g. pack the van, load costumes and props into the dressing rooms etc.

• make sure there are enough breaks for everyone, even if these are at different times.

• make sure you have food and drink for all the team.

• make sure you have at least one person who is organising things outside the performance group.

• there needs to be time (and preferably a theatrical way) for the audience and performers to mix after the show to talk and start conversations.

• if you are doing more than one show a day, make sure there is time to reset everything AND have a break
Beyond the Performances

• record the performances, so they can be shared with people who are interested but couldn’t make it.

• set up a way that people can connect with the performance group after the event, through a social media page, a radio programme, an email address – and make sure this is very clear at the performance.
Final Thoughts
Your project will of course change as you go along, you may find it useful to review all your answers before a new stage of rehearsals to see if the changes affect other parts of the process.

Equally, if you do a second set of rehearsals and performances, review the document in terms of any feedback you get from the first time around.

We hope this process has been useful for you and good luck with your project.

Important: Click the Submit button to save your work.

To amend your responses click the Edit Response button in the email you'll receive.
Public engagement in action

A live performance of Parasite Street Science, a project around Sleeping Sickness and trust between scientists and local communities in Malawi. 

Trialed in Glasgow - watch the performer choices when interacting with the public.  Consider sharing with your non professional performers.
A copy of your responses will be emailed to the address you provided.
Submit
Clear form
Never submit passwords through Google Forms.
reCAPTCHA
PrivacyTerms
This content is neither created nor endorsed by Google. - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy

Does this form look suspicious? Report

Google Forms