Curtain Call or Close Call? Exploring the Drama of Experimental and Mainstream Theater Audiences

In this paper, I explore the distinction between experimental and mainstream theatre performance using cultural economic concepts and perspective to answer my research question: What factors affect ticket sales, audience participation, and motivation in Theater Rotterdam's experimental and lesser-known productions, and how does it compare to mainstream performance? I started with a literature review where I explored various concepts needed to better understand the nature of performance art like theatre. For this research, I applied a survey method that contained quantitative and qualitative questions concerning preferences, motivation, experience, and impact, among others. I collected 144 responses in total from two types of theatre performances in Theater Rotterdam in April 2025. The first representing mainstream theatre was Hamlet directed by Erik Whien. The second group was from The Kitchen, which was a small-scale event in TR that contained three experimental performances. In total, I had 80 respondents for Hamlet and 66 for The Kitchen. In the analysis, I separated these answers into two datasets and then compared them to each other. Analysis of this thesis goes through all 19 questions of my survey, revealing trends and differences between these two groups. Later in the discussion, I recalled these recurring topics into six main themes that reveal specific characteristics of these two categories of performing arts. These themes are also compared to the literature review and concepts mentioned by other researchers. The main conclusion is that there are specific differences between visitor groups. They include their motivation, reasoning for attending the theatre, and goals for cultural and social capital.