Student number 0820342

Module DR3014

Drama & TV and Film studies

Marketing rationale

Double Face is a new, innovative and vibrant dance company that want to expand beyond the usual

barriers of how dance is perceived, and demonstrate how dance can be so much more exciting and

controversial than shown by many other dance companies that tour the world. Double Face is

directed by Ashleigh Robertson who is the founder and creator of Double Face, and is produced by

Kate Neudecker who is a dance choreographer from Bodywork Dance School in Cambridge. Together

they have developed ‘Koko’. The inspiration for this performance has been inspired by the ‘Circus of

Horrors’ and ‘Mandy Montanez’. From this it has evolved into a dark and haunting performance that

takes the audience upon a journey of madness and insanity through the contemporary dance style.

It is set in year 2045 in an asylum whereby all the characters are held hostage within the asylum. The

set and costumes are all very simple in order to keep the costs down and it allows more attention to

be paid to the movement rather than distract audiences with extravagant costumes and backdrops.

The story of ‘Koko’ has been developed from a mental asylum that is being controlled by a corrupt

government where no one is allowed in or out of the country, and all citizens must become part of

the new conservative cult that arrived in 2013. The people who protested have been sent away to

new massive industrial asylums where thousands of young individuals have been kept throughout

the anarchy protests, however these people have been forgotten and now live within the asylums.

The dead are mixing with the living and it becomes hell on earth. The performance will explore the

emotions and reality of this intense story showing scenes from the past and the present and

explores the emotions of these prisoners of society and how they deal with the knowledge that they

will never be able to escape their horrific ordeal. Koko is the lead character and we follow her

ordeal from the protests and the anger generated by her treatment, to the lonely and fearful life in

the horrifying asylum. Koko is the only character within the show to have any text, however the text

is much distorted so that it takes on a very contemporary approach. All the other characters are
ghostly figures and only make strange and disturbing noises but never really get the opportunity to

speak and converse with Koko.

The whole performance will be in contemporary dance with six student dancers / actors who are

performing unpaid due to the performance being part of their university studies. The performance

will take up to a month for the rehearsal period and three performance days. Cut backs have been

made wherever necessary, for example the director, actors and front of house staff are all

volunteers. Due to the choice of the location at the new Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich, it would mean

all actors and back stage staff would be able to walk to the theatre as it is within easy walking

distance for all the cast and crew. This allows more of the budget to be used for marketing the show

and using the more experienced choreographer and producer to create a completely new dance

piece that has been made specifically for the audience it wishes to attract.

The target audience is aged between eighteen to thirty five years, who look beyond the obvious and

are not afraid of the dark. Koko is a very disturbing piece however the audience can build upon their

own imagination so they would have to allow space for thought to appreciate the true beauty of the

dance and the disturbing sounds and images that would be projected to them. It would not be

suitable for anyone under the age of eighteen and it would probably confuse the average closed

minded spectator. So students and artistic people would be the ideal target audience for this

particular piece. To attract these audiences posters will be distributed around Suffolk College and

University and leaflets will be handed out around the independent and more “quirky” shops and

boutiques in the centre of Ipswich. Double Face is a new company and needs to get its message

across the town to attract such large audiences so it would be ideal to place a small advertisement

within the local newspaper or the magazine “Ip1”, as this is often read by theatre goers and art

critics. To ensure that Double Face becomes a credited company it is also being arranged for three

local newspapers and agents to come and give their own opinions on the performance itself.

The New WolseyTtheatre is also a very well known theatre in Ipswich as it hosts many of the local

theatre groups as well as national companies, so the location alone would be an advantage for the
marketing of ‘Koko’. It is also very close to the local university so this could encourage the target

audience to come. The pricing of tickets will be based around the buyers occupation for example

students get discount with a student card which allows them entry for £8.00. This will be clearly

marked on the flyers and posters to ensure they feel they are the being catered for. Normal priced

tickets for non students will be £15.00 which seems a reasonable price as market research revealed,

and it has been estimated that ticket sales alone could realise up to £900.00. However, funding is

still needed to cover the rest of the estimated budget of £3935.00. Local businesses have offered to

pay a total of £400.00 for advertising within the programme, and donations from family members

and friends are covering another £1700.00, so in total the requested amount needed to fund the

shortfall of the wages for technical lighting and sound staff, a choreographer, producer, materials

and consumables for refreshments at the events is £1500.00, which would be requested from the

local Arts Council.