Serbian women love theatre

Belgrade, May, 21. 2010  (Serbia Today)  Regular theatre audiences in Serbia are mainly women and young people, according to the results of research conducted by the Institute for the Study of Cultural Development, Belgrade. Women dominate with almost two thirds of theatergoers, with most of the visitors ranging between 19 and 30 years, while the smallest proportion are aged over 65 years.  In terms of education, theater audiences are mostly professionals and students, and even 25 percent of visitors have a high degree.  The research also included the frequency of visits to the theater. The largest group - about 37 percent are occasional visitors, those who go to the theater once or twice in a period of three months. The following is a regular audience - about 30 percent of viewers who go to the theater once or twice each month. About 13 percent of the public visiting the theater two to three times a year, and only four percent annually.  Favorite genres of Serbian theatre audience are comedies and dramas, as well as contemporary works of local authors. Comedies are a bit more popular with young audiences, older audience prefer dramas and interest in musicals is equally in all age groups.  As for information on the work of the theater, most information came from the Internet and recommendations of friends, but there are still important and traditional ways - advertising space in the theater and newspapers, while some potential visitors informed about the culture through programs on radio and television. More than half the audience thinks that ticket prices are reasonable, to 28 percent prices are high, 4.6 percent thought that the are low, and about ten percent of the audience didn’t reveal their opinion. As a reason for the rare visit to the theater audience mentioned social and economic conditions, as well as the dominant value orientations in society. The study included all professional theater audience in Serbia.