The art of the Pre-Show and Post-Show

I go to lots of theatre performances, shows, and events. I am constantly baffled by how poorly thought out the pre- and post-show experiences are.

From the moment you enter the theatre, you are having "an experience". The atmosphere created within the venue all adds up to how much you enjoy the show. Parts of that experience are usually outside the director's control - for example the number of toilets, price of drinks, or friendliness of the security staff. But so much is within the ability of the show to influence.

Let me give you a few examples.

We recently went to "Taskmaster - the live experience" - from the moment we went in, the show started. There was an art gallery of props from the show, they had recreated various sets for us to wander around, photographs were encouraged, there were hidden quests, and the atmosphere was full of fun.

Similarly, when we went to Immersive 1984, stepping through the doors took us into a new world with appropriately costumed staff, a haunting soundscape, and little bits of interaction.

If you've been to London's Cabaret at the KitKat Club, you'll know that the bars are full of entertainers and venue is designed to heighten your expectations.

The "Stranger Things" show in London is more subtle. All the artwork around the building has been replaced with thematically appropriate images. Newspaper headlines which give you some background details. Adverts for in-universe products. A dozen bits of "did you notice that?" decorating everywhere from the bar to the toilets.

Some of these are expensive to do and some are cheap. But I've been to so many shows where the attitude is "get them in early, pack them like sardines, and make them buy expensive drinks". Going to a gig at the O2 arena is a prime example - it's a bit of a soulless venue, but they could improve the pre-show by putting up some memorabilia, or asking people to do vox-pops, or offering anything to hype the crowd up after queuing for so long.

When I went to see "Spitting Image The Musical" I was expecting to see some puppets in the foyer, or some classic sketches on TV screens, or perhaps some photo-opportunities with cardboard cutouts. Instead it was "buy a drink and piss off". Grim.

As much as I enjoyed Macbeth with David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, there was very little to help build up the excitement. The mandatory headphones played some sounds to make sure they were working - but they could have given us some sonnets to listen to, or some pre-commentary by the director, or anything to liven up the tedium of waiting for a show to start.

Let's talk about the post-show experience. What happens when the cast have taken their bow and the curtain has come down?

Depressingly little.

About the only show that gets this right is "The Mousetrap". At the end, once the killer has been revealed, a cast member swears the audience to secrecy. It is a cute little tradition and sets the audience off into the night feeling a bit special.

Lots of musicals and gigs will do a (prepared) encore. We know it's coming, they know we know, but we still pretend it is a little extra treat for us being such a good audience.

A few shows, like Doctor Who Time Fracture and the aforementioned Taskmaster, have you exit through the gift-shop. Perhaps it is a little tacky. But it can be fun to see what tchotchkes are available.

If you go to a preview performance, you might get a survey immediately after the show or emailed to you a little later. It can be fun to reflect on the experience and it is useful for a production to know what an audience thought of it.

Some shows will do a Q&A with the director and cast. We went to a delightful one with the cast of "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" - only a few dozen of us stayed for that, so it felt particularly convivial.

But, other than those few examples, I can't think of many things that a show has done in terms of "aftercare". Reading the programme on the way home and discussing the show with my date is usually all that happens. Theatre is a social object - can something more be made of how we continue to interact with it after the performance?

I suppose, in part, this is because people usually want to rush to catch a train home (although some theatres are experimenting with earlier start times). But, also, do the audience want this? Do you think a show is a one-off event that only exists from curtain-up to curtain-down? Is the catharsis of applause enough to send you back into the real world? Should we return to the tradition of the Shakespearean Jig at the end of a performance?

Theatres are competing for attention with every other entertainment experience. They are a premium product - a single ticket is often the same cost as several years of NetFlix - and the experience needs to much more than just get in, sit down, get out.