Effects of economic crisis on theatre programming

The global credit crunch which emerged in the year 2007 has had its impact on many sectors in many countries, including the Netherlands. In this thesis it has been examined what the effects of the global credit crunch have been on the performing arts sector in the Netherlands during the period 2006-2012, based on data from twelve selected Dutch theatres. Therefore, the main research question of the research is as following. ‘What are the effects of the global credit crunch and the related budget cuts of the Dutch government on the content of programming in the selected theatres in the Netherlands during the period 2006-2012? ’ In order to gain perspectives of these effects from several angles, different aspects have been examined by dividing the main research question into smaller subjects. These questions respectively include: Regarding the selected period of 2006-2012, are there fluctuations to be distinguished within the total absolute quantities of performances per season in the selected Dutch theatres? Are certain genres, such as cabaret and/or musical, programmed increasingly during the selected time period of 2006-2012, with a possible result of flattening within the programming of the selected theatres? How is the ratio of the genre theatre altering during the period 2006-2012 in the selected Dutch theatres in comparison to the overall total quantity of performances per season within the selected theatres? Which variation can be distinguished in the selected Dutch theatres when observing the segment of subsidized theatre performances per season, as part of the total number of performances within the genre theatre? Is there a relationship between price development and number of performances supplied by the selected theatres? The methodology used within this thesis has been of a qualitative nature, based on a comparative case study, due to the fact that multiple cases are going to be compared to one another. In addition, it can also be stated that the research is of a longitudinal nature, due to the fact that the period 2006-2012 is centralized. The data analysis will be conducted on a secondary basis, which implies the use of existing sources. In this particular case, these secondary sources are program brochures of the selected theatres in the Netherlands in between the seasons 2006-2007 and 2011-2012. In addition, other sources for this thesis are governmental annual reports, with a focus particularly on budgets, expenditure and income, as well as reports from statistic bureaus, such as CBS and SCP, as well as statistics from the VSCD, the Dutch association of theatre- and concert directors. To conclude the research, based on the collected data, it can be stated that the mind-set within the performing arts sector in the Netherlands has altered somewhat during the period 2006-2012. This is the result of different influential factors, such as changing Dutch cultural policy. The absolute number of total performances has decreased in season 2011-’12, after a period of seasonal increases, which could indicate an effect of the credit crunch on the performing arts sector . However, this decrease in total performances has little effect on the segmentation of the genres per season, as well as the share of theatre performances in comparison to the overall total performances. The composition of the genres fluctuates little when comparing the content of the programming per season. Finally, the ticket prices have increased more than general inflation in the Netherlands, which implies a relative price increase of the ticket prices. For future research, it is possible to expand this research in several manners. First, a larger sample of theatres in the Netherlands can be examined to see whether the results of this particular thesis are applicable on a larger national scale. In addition, with the expansion of the time span within the research, it can be researched whether the results are of a temporary or long term nature.