Can you be just a little bit interactive? Or is that just active?
Watch the Candide promo video
I went to see the ENO’s stunning production of Candide the other night. Before the performance and during half-time the digital sign which displays the opera’s words above the stage, was flashing “write a review at eno interactive” and included a URL.
I was impressed; a brilliantly updated production with a modern way of allowing user-generated reviews. Resisting the urge to get on my phone there and then to submit something (friend would not have been impressed) I logged on the next day.
The “interactive hub”, which has some great resources like podcasts, video interviews and blog diaries, had a note from the ENO’s artistic director telling me the ways they give me an opportunity “to talk with us”.
Where was the reviews section? Where was a flashing sign saying “read reviews of Candide now”. Eventually under a drop down list called “Talk to ENO” I found the write a review section.
Here were the instructions:
Welcome to our reviews page. This is your opportunity to tell us what you thought of our productions, and to read other audience reactions. We love hearing what our audiences have to say about our shows and read each and every one of our reviews!
Send your review to insideout@eno.org
We promise to publish every review that we receive – provided it is not obscene or libellous.
Unsurprisingly there was not one single review submitted for Candide. Why not just allow people to automatically submit their reviews? If they’re that worried about the average ENO audience member being obscene or libellous (seriously?) they could run the community with a bit of pre-moderation.
These days, interactivity is not just the ability to hit play and watch a company produced video. It’s about enabling dialogue. This was the type of production where if you stood in the lobby at half-time people were shouting down their mobile phones “Tom! You’ve got to book tickets! It’s f*cking amazing!” (I’m serious, I’ve never seen anything like it).
This incredible conversation has not been harnessed and it’s a shame.
I’m not taking a pop at the ENO. They’ve got lots of modern, up to date, digital resource across their site. And it’s really good, but it still feels like broadcasting rather than dialogue.
As an organisation which fosters art & creativity they could be having fun getting a community involved. Look at the current trend for “sweding“. This is exactly the kind of thing they could be thinking of to encourage the next generation of audiences to the theatre.
What are your suggestions for how the ENO could be more interactive vs active?
