An analysis of the audience of the Mirny Theater in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The article is devoted to the difficult period in the activities of the Mirny Theater associated with the introduction of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government’s quarantine measures primarily affected public events and were supposed to affect the audience’s attendance at theatrical performances. The authors of the article analyzed the activities of the theater during the year of 2021, when decrees of the Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) were issued to counteract the spread of coronavirus infection. Such parameters as the repertoire, the audience, the portrait of the viewer were considered. The methods of data analysis of the audience, Internet questioning, survey and participant observation were applied. Legislative acts, materials of the current theater repertoire, personal data were used. The data obtained during the study were summarized in special graphs and diagrams. The dynamics of the audience for the specified period and the preferences of viewers of different ages in the choice of repertoire were traced. The obtained data allowed us to come to the following conclusions. In the period January-February 2021, the number of performances and viewer attendance became significantly lower than in the period March-May or September-October 20 of the same year. This was probably due to a change in the format of the Mirny Theater. Despite the introduction of the QR code when attending mass entertainment events, the theater managed to retain its audience. When compiling a portrait of the audience of the theater, the authors of the article came to the conclusion that the majority of the audience was made up of middle-aged people and young people. As a result of the study, specific practical recommendations were developed on the prospects of working with the audience and developing the repertoire.