Temporary forms of performative space: Impact of temporary architecture on audience diversification

Abstract

The term temporary forms of performative space was coined out of the need to define the group of objects under study that use temporality and the architectural input into a non-theatrical space, and serve as boundaries for performative content. One such space was designed and built in the previous part of the research. By analysing the space during its functioning, supported by examples from abroad, we offer an example of one of the possible solutions to the problem of theatre attendance. In the conducted study, we aim to support by a practical experiment the premise that temporary architectural forms intended for performance art can diversify and broaden the audience, thus making the theatre more inclusive. The method at hand involves the analysis of two performances. In the Jera show, we analyse the impact of an object located in a public space on the composition of the audience. The object adopts characteristics taken from examples from abroad. The Elektra performance serves as a reference example, where the object is present but not necessary for the relevance of the data obtained. The gathering of information – monitoring the influence of the architectural form on the composition of the audience – takes the form of questionnaires distributed before the performance. The individual questionnaires were processed into a spreadsheet from which research questions with follow-up responses were abstracted. Due to the insufficient number of comparable performances delivered, we can currently confirm the premise of the functioning of the temporary architecture as an attractor of the wider theatre audience only on the basis of the number of spectators who learned about the performance from the QR code, posted in a public space a week before the performance together with the installation of the object itself. This group of visitors surpassed 17%, which we consider a positive result that encourages us to create more testing events in various environments.