Approaching theatre audiences: Active school students and commoditised high culture

Abstract

This article is part of a wider ranging research programme examining theatre audience research via an analysis of “Chekhov: In Criticism, Performance and Reading”, which was funded by the Australian Research Council and included theatre production and audience research in the USA, Britain and Australia. In this article he examines school students as audiences for “canonical” theatre (Chekhov and Shakespeare), drawing on new cultural approaches to reception studies, high culture and issues of “expert” knowledge.