21 Questions to Ask a Production

1. What were your expectations regarding this performance prior to arriving to the venue?
2. What prior knowledge about the show, cast, creative team, production or venue did you bring with you to the theatre?
3. What was it like arriving to the theatre? Was the entrance easy to find? Were there crowds? What was the neighborhood like?
4. How were you welcomed to the venue?
5. What was your experience getting to and sitting in your seat? If you had limited sight, or used an assistive device (wheelchair, cane, etc), or if your body was significantly bigger or smaller than it is, how might your experience getting to or sitting in your seat been different? How did you feel physically during the performance? Was your seat comfortable? Was the temperature too hot or too cold? Did you have elbow room?
6. How much did you pay for your seat? Did you receive a discount? If you did not pay for your seat, do you know how much a ticket to this performance cost?
7. Who was in the audience? Who was not in the audience? What was the energy in the audience like before the show? At intermission? After the show?
8. Did you notice any informational displays in the lobby providing context for the performance?
9. Were there any interactive opportunities available in the lobby or the venue? Photo stations? Cast members mingling the audience?
10. What did the program tell you about the show you were about to see? As you read the bios, did you notice shared histories or prior collaborations? Did any details included in any of the bios capture your interest or imagination? Did anything included in the rest of the program seem noteworthy, surprising or interesting?
11. Were you encouraged to engage the show, venue or cast/creatives on social media? Were you asked to provide your contact information? To donate money or subscribe?
12. Was there pre-show music? Was there anything happening on the stage before the performance “started”?
13. Did you observe visible diversity on stage in terms of gender? Of race? Other measures of diversity?
14. Could you discern evident diversity of the core artistic team (writers, directors, choreographers, designers) in terms of race and/or gender?
15. Describe the narrative/content of the performance in 20 words or less.
16. Describe how the performance made you feel in 20 words or less.
17. Assess the performance (its achievement, its effectiveness, its relevance) in 40 words or less.
18. If you could ask one question of someone involved directly in the production, what would it be?
19. Would you recommend this performance? To your best friend from high school? To an older relative? To your favorite Princeton professor?
20. Does your experience of the performance align with the information circulated about it in the press and in social media?
21. What is the single-most memorable aspect of this theatregoing experience?