The theatre industry is ever-evolving, always perching on the cutting edge of the performing arts. Like the industry, you should strive to stay on top of the trends for your own theatre or theatre program. Why? You’ll remain competitive, generate buzz for your theatre, and push yourself and your team to new creative heights.
If you’re planning your spring season or just looking to think outside the box in 2025, we offer a few trends to watch this year – in the industry and the educational sphere.
We know you know, but it bears repeating: COVID–19 completely shifted the theatre industry. Many traditional venues closed their doors, while others turned to online platforms to remain engaged with loyal patrons. Those who were able to claw their way out of the red realized just how important a digital footprint is for theatres, and this trend continues (if you can believe it) five years down the line.
Video-on-demand and streaming options for theatre continue to grow in popularity. Why? Their benefits are seemingly endless. With VOD and streaming, theatres can:
So, while the pandemic did break down the theatre industry to its studs, it did allow creatives to rethink how they delivered their art. There is a silver lining, after all.
Us theatre creatives have to stick together – and that belief is staying put in 2025. After all, collaborations have become increasingly popular and important throughout mainstream media, especially in the performing arts market. Next year, we’re likely to see even more alliances between two or more theatres and between theatres and businesses/brands of all kinds. The benefits of collabs abound and include:
Marketing has evolved drastically over the last twenty years. A campy commercial with a catchy tagline was the epitome of advertising success even a decade ago. In 2025, however, patrons are looking for more organic marketing efforts. This means presenting your theatre as a people-first entity, not an overarching brand.
So, how can you create organic marketing? A few ideas include:
In short, creating human-centered content is the key to higher engagement for your theatre. Utilizing genuine human expression and storytelling in a society rife with AI-generated fodder will earn you brownie points, guaranteed.
You have likely been caught in what is called a ‘doom scroll.’ You’re horizontal, scrolling on your phone, being fed fleeting, tiny increments of content before moving forward. Indeed, our attention spans have shortened drastically.
But what does this mean for your theatre? With trend cycles shortening, you and your team need to focus your efforts on what resonates most with your audiences. By implementing audience segmentation, you can make sure your content is tailored to your patrons and their specific interests. Even more, make sure the content you’re producing – both via social media and on the stage – is something your guests care about. This means diving into your data, creating focus groups, and asking for genuine feedback from your audiences.
The last thing you want to do is bore your patrons – and trust me, they get bored easily. Being incredibly intentional about the shows you produce and the content you send out will gain you loyalty and trust.
Remember what I said about attention spans? Keeping patrons engaged may be getting a little more difficult, but luckily, we have the newest technology to keep audiences excited about our work.
We will see a further shift into immersive and experimental theatre in 2025 to keep audiences on their toes. New technologies, like augmented and virtual reality, will create more engaging, immersive experiences that will be talked about heavily online. Additionally, events outside the traditional play or musical will expand as theatres meet the rising inflation costs with more revenue generation. In short, creatives are thinking outside the box in 2025.
Ideally, sustainability will not be a passing trend for theatre or any other industry. Instead, theatres in 2025 will make sustainability a cornerstone of their productions and processes, with environmental consciousness at the heart of theatres in 2025.
Sustainability can be an intimidating topic. After all, sometimes we don’t know what we’re doing is wasteful. If you want to enact some simple sustainability practices, try the following:
Art has long been a powerful medium for social commentary – and with the prevalence of the digital world, theatre’s power to ignite social activism is stronger than ever.
From an educational standpoint, teachers aren’t backing down from tackling pieces that cover relevant issues in today’s society – from ableism and racism to bigotry, social justice, and mental health struggles. We’ll see pieces that push the envelope, create change, and inspire students and teachers alike to talk to one another about how to change the world for the better.
Technology gets smarter and more advanced every year, and we’ll surely see this trickle down into educational sectors in the world of theatre. After all, professional creatives are increasingly integrating AI and augmented reality (AR) into their work, and teachers will be, too.
Theatre educators will likely adopt AI and AR to push the boundaries of creativity and audience engagement while teaching students about the pros and cons of these technologies. There may even be entire courses on the subject.
However, theatre is a deeply human endeavor, so there will likely be some bumps in the road as we learn how to navigate the integration of AI into art. Finding the right balance may take time.
Perhaps the most hot-button issue in theatre education over the last few years has been censorship, and we don’t anticipate this calming down in 2025. After all, many issues within the world of theatre are closely tied with broader discussions and debates gaining traction across the country – especially those surrounding gender identity, LGBTQIA+ issues, and race relations.
That said, educators may be feeling the heat from administration about what they can and cannot put on during the school year. Additionally, teachers may self-censor out of fear they or their students may be punished. That said, many educators continue to push the envelope and challenge the status quo in educational theatre.
Theatre educators in 2025 will continue to hone their crafts. There is, after all, a demand for more and more qualifications in the professional sector, no matter the industry. This may translate to teachers seeking additional educational opportunities and adding on more credentials. Alongside remaining competitive, professional development plays a crucial role in theatre educators’ satisfaction, effectiveness, and growth worldwide.
Teachers will, then, be seeking out continuing education, workshops, literature, and conferences, often shouldering the costs themselves, all for the love of the art.
Just as the theatre industry is ever-evolving, so should your software. If you’re finding that your technology is out of date or not able to fulfill your 2025 goals for you, why not upgrade?
That’s where On The Stage comes in. We empower thousands of organizations with ticketing and box office software that includes marketing, fundraising, and reporting tools in one robust platform – for free. Combining a fully integrated suite of tools and resources for theatre and the performing arts with everything needed to control your operational and financial management, OTS lets you focus on what’s important: making great art.
Make sure your software is keeping up with the times. Book a personalized demo with On The Stage today.