To wonder how many people watch am dram plays?

[thelist]

I’ve just joined an am dram society and am looking forward to being in a play in the summer, just as a way to be creative and meet new people. Everyone is great in it and working really hard, it’s completely fab and I have so much respect for everyone who goes to so much effort to put on great shows.

I’ve never actually gone to see a non professional play if I didn’t know anyone in it and was wondering if anyone actually goes to see these plays if they don’t know anyone in them? I don’t like to ask the group in case they think I’m having a dig at them 😂 I’m sure people must but I don’t know anyone who does.

Some might go if they lihe the play and tickets are reasonably priced. Normally there are enough friends of friends to fill an audience

My DD is involved in AmDram and the local theatre (small) sells out for 5 performances of every show they do - so around 1000 tickets sold. This is in a small market town, not a busy city, and there's definitely an appetite for amateur theatre (and no, all the tickets aren't bought by the cast's families.)

I'd rather shoot myself but each to their own. We have a very very successful little theatre in our town so plenty obviously like it!

I go regularly to a small amateur theatre in a busy city. It's usually excellent, very much on a par with professional productions. The occasional awful one tends to be entertaining anyway.

I do if its a show I particularly want to see (for example if they ever release the amateur rights to Newsies (couldn't get tickets to Arts Ed), Something Rotten or Bandstand and it is fairly local I would go.

I usually end up knowing someone in them anyway as ds ds is involved in amdram and dd used to dance locally.

I do, a couple of times a year. Usually very high standard.

My mother used to be the secretary of a local AmDram society. Yes, it's mostly friends/relatives who make up the audience, together with members of other local AmDram societies.

They purposely chose shows with a large cast, especially large numbers of childrens' parts, as they knew these would bring more friends/relatives.

There was also local competition to attract the "best" leading man/woman, not on the basis of how good they were, but on the basis of who sold most tickets. There was one bloke who'd sell 3/400 tickets to his own friends and relatives - he always got the male lead part as they were scared of his defecting to another AmDram society!

I really enjoy am dram and try to go about once a year to something local. They are not usually sold out but not empty either.

I do. In fact I'm off to one with my DSis next month.

I've seen some Am Dram productions that have been better than some professional plays - I saw a play a few years ago with a very well known TV actress in it. Couldn't hear a bloody word she said for the first half as she mumbled. She always sounded very clear on TV but, of course, she had a microphone and all the sound stuff there. She did improved in the second half but she was 'swallowing' her words a lot early on.

Then I went to see an Am Dram production of Abigail's Party (I'd only seen the Alison Steadman version on TV at that stage). The main actress would have given Alison Steadman a run for her money - excellent.

And, with seats a third of the price (or less) than a professional play, it's easy for more people to get to them.

The one I go to must be particularly good - they have done plays with only one or two actors and do sell out most nights. We've definitely missed shows when we haven't bought tickets quickly enough.

I've joined a choral society (long story, was to support somebody else, they've left but I'm still there) and I wondered how many people attended such things, especially taking into consideration how expensive the tickets were - they are sold out every time. As are the majority of other groups, as people love seeing performances but can't always afford full professional prices or travel to them (and we are pretty darn good, even if I say so myself).

FIL used to do amdram and says it's the same - people enjoy seeing shows and there will likely be a core group of people who go to many performances.

I've gone to a few because friends have been in them mostly, but I've also attended some that didn't - for me, the idea of sitting in a park in midsummer watching a play is, well, nice. But that's mainly because all our local theatres have been knocked down for redevelopment/blocks of flats, so Shakespeare in the Park type things are all we get. If we still had our old theatres, I'd be in them because I grew up doing that kind of thing.

I like the idea of doing Amdram, but actually putting myself out there is a bit too much at present. There's safety in numbers in a choir. until the buggers stick you at the front and make you carry an entire passage anyway

Depends on the show. If it’s a good one, it will attract more than the friends and family of the company. I’m in a couple of societies and we do have a following. If it’s a corker of a show we’ll do well, if it’s home grown, not so well. Also depends on the marketing and our recent social media campaign did really well to get seats sold. Also a core few of us can sell 50-100 seats each which helps!
Our latest production of Fiddler on the Roof has great feedback from audience members saying it was as good as the west end and all the roles were cast to a very high standard. We like to think we are professionals that don’t get paid!
Of course some societies are better than others...

I go 3 to 4 times a year. They are generally very good

Depends on venue, play and company.

I was heavily involved and our average audience was 30 in a theatre that could seat about 60.

If we did a Shakespeare or a classic we’d sell out.

The dark studio pieces not so much!!

Ooh @comefromaway I would love if they released the rights to something rotten! (And Come From Away for that matter..)

Interesting to hear different experiences - I think musicals do a bit better than straight plays as people might know one or two songs so think they’d like to go and see the whole show. There’s a musical am dram group and they use a theatre that seats 500 as opposed to the non musical ones that use 100ish capacity venues so there must be demand there.

Depends on play and reputation of the company.

Putting plays on that are on gcse/a level syllabus might be a good way to get an audience.

@LondonJax

Where was the Abigail’s Party you saw? I saw one too and it was amazing and wondered if it was the same one...

Gawd, the term “amdram” conjures up all sorts of old fashioned images.

In real terms it’s fantastic. Many you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between professionals. Only difference being they are paid. Took my parents to a local theatre to see a musical. They were convinced it was professionals.

In fact the company I was with had lots of professionals who had changed careers. We had at least 4 trained and ex pro, and two who were still working.

I’ve just remembered I went to see an amateur production of journeys end that was put on around the 100 year anniversary of WW1 that was excellent, so that timing worked very well for them as it was topical.

Also some AmDram productions are not actually Am - one of my friends is a professional actor (went to drama school but not famous, has done a bit of Holby City etc). He started doing AmDram before drama school to see if he liked it, and has stayed with the same group ever since because he likes doing it. And he is by no means their star, they have other “resting” professionally trained actors in the group too.

They are pretty good, they do four two-week runs a year and seem to sell out. We’ve been a couple of times and it’s a cheap way to see the classics.

I do sometimes- I went to see a youth production earlier this year which was the best live theatre I've seen in years. And that's including professional productions

I think now I’m involved I’ll definitely make an effort to see more stuff, everyone absolutely works their butts off and I never really saw that side before I got involved

We have a theatre in our village and people travel for miles to the watch shows. They're always fabulous.

Never seen any advertised near me, but may not be looking in right places, might go if show looked good and was the right price!

We're going to see an amateur production of Cats in one of the big Glasgow theatres next week. It's a fairly big thing, well-respected amateur company.

And tickets were far better value that the going rate for a professional performance, paid £12.50 for a seat in the front half of the stalls.