Why and with Whom? A Study of Young People as Theatre-Goers in Australia

Abstract This article is an overview of the literature informing the four year Australian Research Council linkage project, TheatreSpace: Accessing the Cultural Conversation, a large-scale longitudinal study into young people's attendance at mainstream theatre1. The article provides a brief overview of the research project and an examination of a range of the key principles which have allowed the researchers access to understanding a complex web of data. The article explores the link between the education sector and young people as theatre-goers, considering the place of theatre and theatre-going in the curriculum, the role of teachers as mediators and facilitators of the theatre experience. The question of how young people ‘read’ the theatre experience both within and beyond the curriculum is a point of particular focus.