ABSTRACT
This chapter describes in more detail the six broad methodologies scholars can employ to study spectatorship: qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, historical, participatory, and arts-based. Theatrical events can impact spectators in many ways; it explains many projects aiming to provoke personal transformation via affective experience, sharpened political analysis via critical engagement, and enhanced community cohesion via shared social experience. The last decade has seen an increased interest in audience research, as a rich field of scholars has begun to directly examine the experiences of real spectators. Spectators “develop their own translation in order to appropriate the ‘story’ and make it their own story”. All arts experiences automatically add positive value to the lives of their spectators and advocate instead for scholars and artists to look critically at potentially adverse impacts alongside the positive. Finally, the chapter presents an overview of this book.
