Imagine you are onstage performing and looking out at your audience. You want to connect with these people. If they are seated too far away, directly to your right or left, behind the stage or behind an obstruction; you—the performer—can’t reach the audience, and they—the audience—are likely to get frustrated and not enjoy the show. No one likes to stare at the back of someone’s head.
1. Set them up to see the show.
Seat your audience in FRONT of your stage and LIGHT your performers.
Avoid seating any audience members directly to the right or left, around a corner or especially behind the stage. It’s nearly impossible for the performers to connect with these people and they will likely stare at the side or back of the party performers for the whole performance or worse yet—miss the show completely.
If necessary, use the space directly to the sides of the stage for the buffet or bars, a photo booth, displays, etc. Leaving it open is even better.
If your space is narrow, seat the audience deep (vertically) versus spread side to side (horizontally). This will at least make the stage visible to most, if not all of your audience, even if they are a bit further away. And the event performers won’t feel like they’re turning their backs on some folks.
And be sure the performers will be lit with flattering stage lighting if the performance space will be dark.
2. Get cosy.
Seat your audience CLOSE to the stage and CLOSE to one another.
Great performers like to engage with their audience and make them feel included. If the first row of tables or chairs is too far away, that feels like dead space to the audience and the performers.
Seat the first row of the audience as close as five feet away from the front edge of the stage if possible and don’t spread the audience out too much. Keeping it all contained keeps the performance energy locked together.
If you have a lot of space, set up the extras (like the buffet, bars, etc.) behind the seating area, or just keep that space open. But get the audience close to the show!
3. A pillar is not your friend.
Don’t BLOCK your audience’s view of the stage.
Whenever possible, seat people to the right or left of any sort of obstruction. Unless, of course, you’re hosting superheroes and they all have X-ray vision. Most people will feel miffed if they are seated behind a pillar.
Keep this in mind when choosing a venue. If there are a lot of obstructions, look elsewhere if you’re hoping for full capacity!
4. Distraction ruins a show.
Set up ACTION spots away from the line of view of the stage.
As a performer, one of the worst things in the world is to have a constant visual or audio distraction anywhere near the stage during a show.
5. Allow plenty of time to set up and communicate.
Check in with your performers beforehand and build in ample set-up time on the day.
Make sure you have a conversation with the agent or performers before the event date. Send a mock-up drawing of your audience setup if you are unsure and get their input.
Then, on the day, be sure to give the performers plenty of time to get their sound equipment loaded in, set up, sound checked and get out of view before the audience starts coming in.
A little forethought and event planning is sure to make your event go off without a hitch. If you have a hard time envisioning a stage or an audience in your event space, enlist the help of a friend, a professional event planner or ask a performer or stage technician for help! Happy Planning!
