ABSTRACT
Approaches to evaluating the audience impacts of theatre productions continue to be identified and refined by researchers and theatre practitioners. This chapter considers the research-based play Contact!Unload as an example to describe and illustrate the approach to creating a mixed methods evaluation to understand audience impacts. Research-based Theatre invites audience members to witness a performance that is designed to share research findings in ways that provoke both cognitive and affective reactions. Evaluative thinking guided decisions around audience engagement and measuring audience impact for Contact!Unload. The chapter describes the importance of each question and provides examples to highlight how it guided the work to understand audience impacts. Evaluation methods were chosen collaboratively with the whole team and intended audience members in mind and piloted during rehearsals. Planning follow-up data collection creates a unique opportunity to learn about unintended outcomes when audience members leave the performance as well as the sustainability of intended outcomes.
