Selling a show takes more than putting it on sale and hoping people will come. You need to give audiences a reason to notice it, make them curious, remind them it exists and, ultimately, persuade them to book a ticket.

The good news is that effective promotion doesn’t always require a big budget. It requires thought, imagination, consistency and a willingness to let people see the personalities and hard work behind the production.

The three essentials: title, image and synopsis

These three elements are of equal importance and must work together to sell your show.

1. The title

Your title is often the first thing an audience encounters. It needs to grab attention, create curiosity and, ideally, give some indication of what the show is about. It should be memorable and work well across ticketing platforms, search results and social media.

2. The image

Your image is your visual calling card. It needs to stand out, communicate the character of the production and make someone stop scrolling. A strong image can create intrigue before a potential audience member has read a single word. Give it the same consideration you give your title.

3. The short synopsis

Once the title and image have caught someone’s attention, the synopsis needs to make them want to know more. Keep it concise, engaging and accessible. Tell people enough to understand the show’s appeal without giving everything away. Above all, sell the experience of seeing the show rather than simply describing its plot.

Once these three essentials are in place, it’s time to think about your audience.

Who is your audience, and how will you reach them?

You cannot effectively market a show until you have some idea of who is most likely to want to see it. Who will connect with its subject matter, style, performers or creative team? Where do those people spend their time, both online and in the real world?

Once you know who you’re trying to reach, you can start planning how to reach them.

A potential audience member may need to encounter your show seven times or more before it registers in their memory. The exact number will vary, but the principle is important: one announcement is rarely enough.

However, repeatedly posting the same image with the same message is unlikely to keep people interested. You need to find different ways to tell the story of your production, giving audiences something new to discover each time.

Keep your show visible on social media

Start planning your promotional content as soon as the show goes on sale. Don’t leave everything until opening week.

Your campaign should include:

• On-sale announcement: Introduce the show and give people a clear reason to book.

• Casting announcement: Reveal who’s involved and encourage performers and their networks to share the news.

• Promotional photoshoot: Capture the cast and, where possible, the creatives. Give yourself a bank of quality images to use throughout the campaign.

• Rehearsal shoot: Show the production taking shape and let audiences see the work going into it.

• In-tech shoot: Capture the transformation as lighting, sound, set and costumes come together.

• Opening preview: Share the excitement of the show finally reaching an audience.

• Press night: Make the occasion count, sharing photographs, reactions and any early critical responses where available.

These are just the starting points. There are plenty of other ways to keep a production in people’s minds.

Think about sharing cast profiles, short interviews, star cards, memorable quotes, audience vox pops and clips of enthusiastic applause or standing ovations, where you have permission to film and share them.

And don’t forget the moments audiences don’t usually get to see.

A glimpse behind the scenes can be every bit as engaging as a polished promotional photograph. Dressing-room antics, backstage camaraderie, vocal warm-ups, late-night journeys home, last-minute preparations, stressful moments and silly incidents can all help bring a production to life.

These moments give people a sense of the human beings behind the show. They help audiences feel connected to the cast and creative team, and give them another reason to care about what happens on stage.

Not every post needs to be glossy. Sometimes the most engaging content is the most spontaneous.

The difficult truth about getting an audience

Even when you do everything you can to promote a show, selling tickets without a marketing budget can be a real challenge. Theatre is competitive, audiences have limited time and money, and even the best productions can struggle to fill a room.

But there is another aspect of audience support that can be surprisingly painful: complimentary tickets.

For performers, having friends and family come to see their work is often deeply personal. It is about sharing something they have worked hard to create, celebrating a milestone and having the people who matter to them experience it.

For producers, arranging a complimentary ticket also represents time, effort and a gesture of goodwill. That seat has been offered because someone wants another person to experience the production and support the people involved.

So, when someone accepts a comp and then arrives late, fails to turn up or cancels at the last minute without good reason, the disappointment can go well beyond the financial value of the ticket.

Of course, genuine emergencies happen, and nobody should feel obliged to attend if circumstances make it impossible. But accepting a complimentary ticket should still be treated as a commitment. If you cannot make it, let the person who arranged it know as early as possible.

Perhaps the most frustrating experience is when a fellow performer, someone who understands just how much it means to have an audience, accepts a complimentary ticket to see a friend’s show and then doesn’t turn up.

Supporting a friend in theatre isn’t always about spending money. Sometimes it is simply about giving your time, showing up and being there.

A ticket is an invitation. Turning up is an act of support.

The 10 Top Tips to remember:

1 Get the title right

Make it memorable, distinctive and capable of catching someone’s attention.

2 Invest in the image

Your artwork is a vital selling tool. Make it striking, relevant and recognisable.

3 Write a compelling short synopsis

Give people a clear, concise reason to want to see the show.

4 Know your audience

Identify who is most likely to love your show and understand what will appeal to them.

5 Plan how to reach them

Choose the social platforms, networks and promotional opportunities most relevant to your audience.

6 Start promoting early

Build your campaign from the on-sale announcement through rehearsals, tech, previews and press night.

7 Keep your content varied

Repeat the message, not the post. Give people a fresh reason to notice your show each time.

8 Show the people behind the production

Share cast stories, rehearsal moments, backstage glimpses and genuine audience reactions, with appropriate permissions.

9 Make every ticket count

Whether paid or complimentary, every seat represents an opportunity for someone to experience your work. Treat invitations and commitments with respect.

10 Show up for each other

Theatre is a community. Supporting a colleague or friend by being in the audience can mean far more than the price of a ticket.

Theatre promotion is about persistence, creativity and connection. You need to make people notice your show, give them reasons to remember it, and make them want to be part of the experience.

And once the curtain goes up, remember that behind every production are people who have invested their time, talent and energy into making it happen. Sometimes the best support you can give them is simply to turn up.

🎭

Richard Lambert is a theatre producer, lighting designer and arts entrepreneur, and CEO of Fringe Theatre Awards Ltd. He is also Director of LAMBCO Productions Ltd and has created and developed independent theatre venues, championing ambitious, thought-provoking work and emerging artists.

Through the Fringe Theatre Awards, he is committed to celebrating excellence, raising the profile of independent theatre and recognising the talent that makes the fringe scene so vibrant.

To discover productions, explore venue listings and stay up to date with nominations and news, visit fringetheatreawards.co.uk

There are a lot of things you’re apparently supposed to know if you want to work in theatre, and it can be hard to know just where to start. Do you need to go to drama school? Take an MA? Find an agent? Should you enter competitions? Send your play somewhere? Put it on yourself? And at what mysterious point are you actually allowed to start calling yourself a playwright?

When I interviewed Morgan Lloyd Malcolm for the first issue of Exits & Entrances, we talked about Emilia, Dracula, The Turn of the Screw and the stories she’s passionate about telling. But I also wanted to ask her something more practical: how do you actually begin?

What if you don’t have family connections in the industry, haven’t been to drama school and can’t afford an MA – what should you be doing then? Morgan’s first piece of advice was refreshingly straightforward:

“I would advise them to find their local fringe theatre.”

1. Find your people – and make something together!

Go and see what’s happening at your nearest fringe theatre, Morgan suggests. See the shows. Find out who’s making them. If there’s an opportunity to get involved, take it. Start getting to know the community of theatre-makers around you.

And then?

Make something. It doesn’t have to cost thousands of pounds. You don’t need an elaborate set, a large cast or a prestigious venue. Morgan suggests asking a local fringe theatre whether they might let you use the space on a dark night, perhaps for free, to try something out with the people you’ve met there.

“Theatre can be anything… it could be you and one other person in a room.”

Making your own work can be difficult and expensive, and Morgan doesn’t pretend otherwise. But doing so can give you some real control over your creative life, rather than leaving every opportunity in somebody else’s hands. Your love of theatre can expand into “this whole other world of community and people” – you just need to “find your people, find your local community, and see what’s going on.”

And there’s another surprising advantage to simply getting involved: you might discover that the job you thought you wanted isn’t actually the thing you love most. Perhaps you begin by wanting to write – and then discover a passion for lighting design? Perhaps you think you want to perform, only to realise you’d rather stage-manage? Perhaps it’s producing, design, the box office, or something else entirely. Getting stuck in and making work gives you a real chance to find out.

2. See theatre – including things you don’t like!

Morgan recommends seeing as much theatre as you reasonably can, while acknowledging that tickets can be expensive.

Look for affordable performances, local productions and opportunities to see work without paying West End prices - and don’t limit yourself to productions that have received glowing reviews.

“Learn from things that aren’t good, as well as things that are good.” You might discover that you disagree with the critics. Something that everybody else seems to love might leave you cold, while a production that’s been dismissed by others could contain something that genuinely excites you. Or you might watch something that doesn’t work and begin to understand why. Either way, you’re developing your own judgement about what happens onstage – and about the theatre you want to make.

3. Take advantage of free opportunities.

Morgan’s advice here is clear: “Just do all the free events.”

Local theatres often run talks, Q&As, workshops, playwriting sessions and other events where you can learn something and meet people working in the industry.

Not every theatre offers them, of course, and what’s available will depend on where you live. But it’s worth looking beyond formal training courses to find out what else is happening in your area. The most useful conversation might even take place after an event rather than during it, if you can stay on for a chat or a coffee afterwards.

If the expensive route into theatre isn’t available to you, that doesn’t mean there is no route.

4. Ask questions!

Theatre can sometimes feel like an industry in which everybody else knows the rules – and often the only way to discover how something works is to ask.

Morgan encourages emerging writers to use the internet: follow people whose work interests you, find out what they’re doing and, within reason, get in touch. She regularly receives messages from writers wondering what to do with a play they’ve finished or what their next step might be and she has no problem with that.

Not everybody will have time to reply, and, of course, nobody is obliged to provide free mentoring. But a polite, specific question can be a perfectly reasonable place to start. You don’t need to assume in advance that nobody will answer and miss out on the opportunity to connect. And you certainly don’t have to work everything out alone.

5. Don’t give up the day job too quickly.

This may not be the most idealistic advice anybody has ever given an aspiring playwright but it may well be some of the most useful!

“Don’t give up the day job so quickly.” Morgan spent years writing alongside other employment and knows just how difficult it can be to build a financially sustainable career in theatre.

These days, alongside her work as a professional playwright and screenwriter, she also teaches and runs workshops. That’s another source of income – and one she wishes she’d embraced earlier.

Interestingly, she admits that she initially felt nervous about teaching: “Who the hell do I think I am to teach people how to do this when I barely know how to do it myself?” But she’s discovered that she enjoys it, particularly running workshops and talking to students.

It’s a useful reminder that a creative career doesn’t necessarily mean doing one thing, and only one thing, for the rest of your working life. You may need several different strands of work to keep yourself going. And there’s absolutely no shame in that. Indeed, keeping yourself afloat financially with other work may be precisely what allows you to carry on writing.

6. Remember that a career isn’t a timetable.

Morgan is clear that the theatre doesn’t offer a dependable sequence of steps leading from beginner to professional success. “There’s no, if you do this, then this will happen.”

Her own career took time. She worked a full-time day job alongside writing and, when she began, gave herself ten years to see whether she could make meaningful progress. Looking back, she wishes she’d understood sooner that building a writing career is “a marathon, not a sprint.”

It’s easy to see somebody else’s success and imagine that you’re falling behind. One writer appears to have arrived almost overnight, while another is still waiting for a first production. But careers develop at different speeds. Theatre is also a business, and luck and timing matter: sometimes a particular play happens to meet a particular moment. You can’t know when yours will.

Morgan’s advice to her younger self is considerably simpler: “Stick it out, stick it out.”

7. If you’ve written a play, you’re a playwright!

Perhaps my favourite part of this conversation came when I asked Morgan when she first began thinking of herself as a professional playwright, rather than somebody still trying to become one.

She remembered being told by a director friend, when she was in her mid-twenties, that she couldn’t call herself a playwright until she’d had a professional production. For a while she believed them. But it didn’t take her long to realise that it was “absolute rubbish” – and she is very clear now that “everybody who writes a play is a playwright.”

Of course, there’s a difference between writing plays and making your entire living from writing them. Morgan knows that as well as anyone – “It’s very hard to make money from writing plays.”

It took her a long time to reach the point where writing was her full-time profession, and she worked other jobs along the way. But she called herself a playwright long before she was earning money from it - and she doesn’t believe that lack of income should stop anybody else from doing the same.

“I would never want anybody to limit themselves by not thinking they are a playwright, just because they’ve not made any money from it.”

So perhaps the answer to How do I Begin…? isn’t quite as mysterious as it first appears.

Find your local theatre. See what’s happening. Go to the free events. Ask questions. Find some people. Make something.

Continue doing whatever work you need to keep yourself going, and don’t assume that somebody else’s career timetable should be yours.

And if you’ve already written a play, or you are writing one? You don’t need to wait for somebody else – anybody else – to tell you what you are.

You’re a playwright.

Read our main interview with Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Who Gets to Tell the Story?, in which she talks about Emilia, Dracula, The Turn of the Screw and putting overlooked women at the centre of familiar stories.

🎭

Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

Morgan Lloyd Malcolm is an Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her play Emilia, commissioned by Shakespeare’s Globe, transferred to the West End in 2019 and won three Olivier Awards including Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. Her other stage work includes The Wasp and Belongings (both Hampstead Theatre), Dracula (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, 2025) and Mum (Theatre Royal Plymouth and Soho Theatre). For screen, her adaptation of The Wasp was released in cinemas in 2024, and her adaptation of Josephine Hart’s Damage was released on Netflix as Obsession in 2023. She co-founded Terrifying Women, a company producing new horror plays written by women.

Production details & Tour dates:

Written by: Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, based on the novella by Henry James
Directed by: Nicky Allpress
Produced by: Blackeyed Theatre and Arcola Theatre
Running time: Approximately 130 minutes including interval
Tour: October 2026 - June 2027
Tickets and Venues

Written by Emma King-Farlow, Founder and Editorial Director, Exits & Entrances | September 2026

Why we need to celebrate fringe theatre

Fringe theatre has always been one of the most exciting parts of our theatrical landscape. It is where new ideas are tested, emerging artists find their voices, established creatives take risks and audiences discover work they might never otherwise encounter.

Yet independent theatre can struggle to receive the recognition it deserves. Productions are often made with limited budgets, small teams and enormous personal commitment. A show might run for only a few performances in a small venue before disappearing. An exceptional performance, beautifully written play or innovative piece of design may be seen by a relatively small audience and then be gone.

That does not make the work any less valuable.

Having spent years working in theatre as a producer and through LAMBCO Productions, I have seen the extraordinary talent that exists throughout the fringe, as well as how difficult it can be for artists and productions to gain visibility.

This experience led me to establish the Fringe Theatre Awards (FTA) in April 2025. My aim was to create a platform celebrating excellence, giving outstanding work greater visibility and connecting artists, producers, venues and audiences across the independent theatre community.

Recognition should not depend on the size of your budget

Access to recognition should not be determined by how much money a production has available for marketing, publicity or awards submissions. Independent theatre operates under very different financial circumstances from larger commercial productions, and some of its most inventive work emerges from creatives challenging convention and finding imaginative solutions to practical limitations.

The FTA offers free show listings, free venue information and an interactive venue map. There are no membership fees, helping theatre-makers make their work discoverable without facing another financial barrier.

Our awards recognise achievement across writing, performance, direction, design, music, choreography and other production disciplines. Categories span cabaret, immersive theatre, puppetry, circus, dance, opera, family theatre and solo performance. We want to acknowledge excellence wherever it occurs, whether in a small fringe venue, at a festival or in an unconventional performance space.

Independent assessment matters

An awards scheme is only as credible as the process behind it.

The FTA works with accredited reviewer-assessors who attend productions and independently nominate work they believe deserves recognition. Our assessors remain anonymous, allowing them to approach productions as reviewers rather than as public representatives of the awards.

Nominations are based on what assessors see and experience. Producers and artists cannot simply nominate themselves to secure a place on the shortlist. Recognition should be earned through the work itself.

We also look beyond a production as a whole. Exceptional writing, a remarkable performance, inventive lighting design or an outstanding directorial vision deserve recognition alongside a show’s overall success.

Our People’s Vote gives audiences an opportunity to celebrate the work they love. Alongside our festival awards and EFFTA awards for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, it allows us to recognise different kinds of achievement and engagement across the sector. Independent assessment provides professional scrutiny, while audience participation celebrates the relationship between artists and the people who see their work.

Building a platform, not just presenting awards

From the beginning, I wanted the FTA to offer more than an annual ceremony. Awards can provide a wonderful moment of celebration, but their value should not end when trophies or medallions are presented. Recognition can help productions reach new audiences, give artists meaningful achievements to include in their professional biographies and bring attention to work that might otherwise be overlooked.

Our website is a practical resource for the theatre community. Free listings help audiences discover productions and festivals, while venue information and our interactive map make it easier to explore independent theatre. We also want to strengthen connections between artists, venues, producers, reviewers and audiences.

This is particularly important for emerging artists, whose careers develop through training, opportunities, collaborations and experimentation. Acknowledging their work can build momentum and encourage them to continue developing their craft. The FTA cannot solve every structural problem facing independent theatre, but it can help create an environment in which good work is more readily discovered and celebrated.

What we have learned so far

Our inaugural season demonstrated the appetite for a platform that takes fringe theatre seriously. We nominated 256 productions, recorded 980 nominations across 123 venues, and presented 105 EFFTA awards for the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, alongside Special Awards recognising exceptional contributions.

These figures represent more than activity on a website. They reflect the breadth of work being created and the people making it happen.

Theatre is a collaborative art. A brilliant actor may be supported by an inventive director, a compelling writer, a skilled lighting designer and a team working largely out of sight. Recognising these contributions tells a fuller story of how a production comes together.

Excellence does not always arrive with a large publicity campaign or an established name attached to it. Sometimes it is found in a small venue, a short run or the work of an artist taking their first significant professional steps. That is why independent theatre needs recognition that looks beyond visibility alone.

We continue to develop the FTA, learning from the productions we encounter and the needs of the sector, while preserving our commitment to accessibility, independent assessment and artistic achievement.

The future belongs to the whole theatre community

Fringe theatre is essential to the health of the wider industry. It gives new writing a chance to be heard, allows performers and creatives to experiment, creates opportunities for emerging producers and enables audiences to encounter work that might never fit a conventional commercial model. It also gives established artists the chance to rediscover the spirit of experimentation that first drew them to theatre.

Success should not be measured solely by whether a production transfers to the West End. Some work is valuable because it takes risks; some because it speaks directly to a particular community; and some because it gives an artist the opportunity to do something they have never done before.

I want the Fringe Theatre Awards to help make that talent easier to find. Theatre-makers should feel their work matters, venues should feel their contribution is recognised, and audiences should be encouraged to discover productions they might otherwise miss.

Ultimately, the FTA celebrates the people who make theatre happen. Artistic ambition is not measured by the size of a venue, the price of a ticket or the scale of a marketing budget.

Fringe theatre deserves to be celebrated in its own right, not simply as a stepping stone to something else.

If the Fringe Theatre Awards can help more people discover exceptional work, give artists recognition for their achievements and strengthen the connections that make our theatre community thrive, then we will have achieved something worthwhile.

🎭

Richard Lambert is a theatre producer, lighting designer and arts entrepreneur, and CEO of Fringe Theatre Awards Ltd. He is also Director of LAMBCO Productions Ltd and has created and developed independent theatre venues, championing ambitious, thought-provoking work and emerging artists.

Through the Fringe Theatre Awards, he is committed to celebrating excellence, raising the profile of independent theatre and recognising the talent that makes the fringe scene so vibrant.

To discover productions, explore venue listings and stay up to date with nominations and news, visit fringetheatreawards.co.uk

These days, auditions usually take three forms: a self tape, where you film your own audition and send the edited video to the casting director; a live stream via Zoom or Microsoft Teams; or in person, where you go to meet people face-to-face in a room (this could also be a recall from a self tape). Remember, especially during quiet times, that things can happen at any moment, sometimes at short notice or when you least expect them. Today could be the day when the phone rings or an email arrives with that life-changing audition or job offer, so be prepared and never give up hope. That said, there is no magic formula that will get you booked every time, so don’t have unrealistic expectations if spending money on courses that suggest or promise this.

Here are my 10 top tips to maximise your success at auditions:

PREPARE AND RESEARCH Get as much information as possible about the project and the role for which you are auditioning, as well as the people you will be meeting. Make sure you have the required skills and if you are sent script pages beforehand, learn them rather than reading off the page. It will elevate your performance to another level.

TURN UP! If you are offered an audition, go. You never know where it might lead, now or in the future. Get your self tape in as early before the deadline as possible, as casting teams may receive hundreds of tapes and only have time to watch a small selection. If you really need to cancel, give as much notice as possible so someone else can have your slot.

ALLOW ENOUGH TIME Factor in enough time for your journey, including possible delays, to avoid stress. It is always better to be early than late. Enter the venue about 15 minutes before your appointment and remember that casting sessions can run late (sometimes by hours) or early if people have cancelled, so be prepared for both.

STAY FOCUSED If you are given script pages to look through in the waiting room, do not get distracted. Get as familiar with the material as you can, rather than chatting to other auditionees.

BE MEMORABLE Keep your energy levels up from the moment you enter the venue, or your tape starts rolling, until the very end. Smile, be enthusiastic and be the person they remember and want to work with, now and in the future.

DO YOUR BEST Always give the best audition you can and never make excuses, apologise or walk out. You never know what they are looking for. If you do not want a job, give a brilliant audition and turn it down if an offer comes, rather than sabotaging it. If you look good, the casting director does too, and vice versa.

ANY QUESTIONS? If the creative team chat with you before or after your reading, listen carefully and think before you answer. Speak in concise sentences rather than rambling. If they ask whether you have any questions, the answer is always yes, so prepare one or two pertinent questions in advance.

MAKE PLANS You will feel less nervous if an audition is just another part of your day. Make sure you have something to look forward to afterwards, whether that is something lovely or simply necessary.

BE PATIENT Decisions can often take time, so do not assume the worst if you hear nothing for a while. If the job is for you, wonderful. But if not, think about how you can improve and remember that you have made new contacts for the future.

KEEP IN TOUCH If the company’s contact details are available, follow up from time to time. A brief, warm message reminding them of where you met, or sharing a relevant update about your work, keeps you in their mind for future projects.

🎭

Richard Evans CDG has cast productions in every media since 1989, having previously worked as an actor for 10 years. He has written two books and devised and presented audition and career development workshops in the UK and worldwide.

For more information and further tips, advice and resources, go to www.auditionsthecompleteguide.com and www.evanscasting.co.uk