A capital project is a major undertaking and usually takes many years of planning and detailed preparatory work. It is probably something your venue will only do once in a generation, so it is important to get it right and make the most of the opportunity.

This event will explore how theatres can first test whether there is the audience to support their capital ambitions, and then how to maintain, re-engage, and even grow audiences during periods of capital development or other major changes.

Catherine Bradley, Senior Consultant at The Audience Agency, will consider how theatres can set baselines to understand audience change during capital projects. She will share effective consultation and engagement approaches for both new and existing audiences, including managing relationships throughout periods of closure, and how to re-introduce your theatre as you prepare to reopen.

The King's Theatre in Edinburgh closed in 2022 for a major redevelopment project and is scheduled to reopen in summer 2026. During this period of closure, Capital Theatres has used its other venues, the Festival and Studio theatres, to keep the King's Theatre's audience engaged. Munya Redman-Bayasi, Senior Programmer, and Hannah Webb, Heritage Engagement Manager at Capital Theatres, will discuss the strategic planning and operational decisions involved in programming work at venues with distinct identities to ensure they continue to engage specific audience groups.

Luke Shires, Director of Marketing, Sales, Audiences and Communications, at Chichester Festival Theatre will reflect on how The Nest, its new temporary creative space for emerging artists, is being used to prove whether there is an audience for this work, and which will potentially feed into long-term ambitions for a third studio space to become a permanent venue.