Upon starting the devising process we began to discover the importance a name holds for a piece. We wanted to discover a name for our future performance that reflected both our devising process and ourselves as a contemporary company. In order to gain the most out of our marketing techniques and reach audiences, it was crucial we thought of an enticing title before moving forward with other elements. Levinson tells us ‘titles of artworks are plausibly essential properties of them, in many cases.’ (1985, 29) as they not only entice, but sum up what you want to say. A title can lead to a range of interpretations and spark the initial interest to a project. We had three options for our future performance that we thought could potentially work for our show. These were:
- Interpret this
- Take me by the tongue: Interpret this
- Take me by the tongue
‘From Shakespeare to Pitbull’
After brainstorming these ideas, we then discovered the ultimate importance of market research. The Arts Council, who we would hope to receive future funding from in order to aid other projects, also stress the importance of market research. One of their current research projects includes them trying to ‘improve our understanding of how and why people engage with the arts’ (Arts Council, 2014). This project will enable them to understand who is watching what theatre and fund wisely to future companies in reflection of this. After seeing the importance of this kind of research and its relevance, we ourselves questioned a range of age groups and different types of theatre goers on which title they would find the most appealing. The set of questions we asked and will use in the future when deciding titles are below.
There were a range of initial reactions on aspects of ‘Take Me By The Tongue…From Shakespeare to Pitbull’ more so than others. It seems considering we aim to reach a range of theatre goers in our mission statement, asking a broad group was the most effective route. It was suggested by the younger audience demographic (16-21) in particular that it sounded like a show where they would want to listen to what we have to say, as it is unusual and thought provoking. This is crucial for our current devised piece all about text and interpretation and will be important for future performances also. Many proposed it is interesting enough to grab attention and relates to our mission statement about reinterpreting text, as we are taking others words.
There were the odd few who suggested it could have sexual connotations. After work shopping our piece however, it seems to have developed more feminist connotations. Not only this, but the sexual idea of taking someone by the tongue and their words at the same time works well for our current production. Those in the 35-50 demographic suggested it came across as ‘leading through the power of language’ (Tracy Holland, 14.3.14). These comments from a range of ages represent how important this research can be. As we are open to a wide demographic of theatre goers, questioning a range of people on a name has ensured we chose an effective title where we have sold out our latest show. The fact this title is a lyric from a recent pop song also fits in with our wish as a company to re-contextualise for this particular piece. With good feedback from a range of ages, we decided to go ahead with this title. After such effective and helpful comments, our marketing team will definitely be taking part in this sort of research for all future pieces.
(Above ‘Our company conducting title research’ Taken by: Kirsty Jakins 12.3.14)
Although, the problem with deciding on a title is that your show can change as ‘what makes devising so special is the potential freedom or opportunity to move in a number of different directions’ (Oddey, 1994, 3). You can work on a project for years, such as Michael Pinchbeck’s ‘The Beginning’ and ‘The End’. However, it ultimately develops as I discovered by seeing ‘The Beginning’ in Edinburgh August 2013, then once again in Lincoln a few months later. This is something we have had to and will have to think about carefully, as once a name has been sent out to poster design and venues it is set. Our work has and will change through our devising process, and we will have to work to overcome that with marketing our works titles wisely through creative research and careful planning. To make our current produiction more open in the future, we could remove the tagline ‘From Shakespeare to Pitbull’ to avoid alienating any content.
Works Cited
Arts Council (2014) Arts Audiences. [online] Available from: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/research-and-data/arts-audiences/ [Accessed: 18.05.14].
Holland, T. (2014) Title Research. [Interview] Interviewed by Kirsty Jakins, 14th March.
Levinson, J (1985) The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 44 (Autumn, 1) 29-35.
Oddey, A. (1994) Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. New York: Routledge.
Pinchbeck, M. and Hobday, N. and Smith, O. (2013) The Beginning. [performance] Michael Pinchbeck (dir.) Edinburgh: Pleasance Courtyard (Pleasance Two), 18 August.