Conclusion: A Continuum for Planning

Abstract

The final chapter serves two purposes drawn together by a proposed model – the Commitment Continuum. The chapter aims to locate differing approaches to understanding attendance within the framework of a young person’s ‘commitment’ to attend. Through a detailed deconstruction of the events and key decision-making associated with the crucial decision to attend (or not), the chapter provides a review of the multiple perspectives of young people’s theatre-going as demonstrated through various lenses in the preceding chapters of this book– the education sector, the key informants, the socio-economic and cultural impacts, the theatre experience itself including notions of venue, genre and style, and the practicalities of attendance.

The second purpose of this chapter is to signpost the future and to propose, through the modelling of the Commitment Continuum, one illustration of how the TheatreSpace research findings might be synthesized and then applied in a practical context. This is particularly relevant for theatre and education workers who are concerned with developing and supporting young people’s attendance at mainstream theatre.