Monkey Baa is an Australian theatre company empowering young people to shape their lives through inspiring, imaginative theatre and creative experiences.
Bringing Australia’s rich history and beyond to life, the company offers national and international touring performances, alongside a diverse program of workshops and professional and artist development opportunities.
Culture Counts spoke to Executive Director, Kevin du Preez about how we helped Monkey Baa better collect and understand feedback from their audience. They used their findings to create a comprehensive report to share with their key stakeholders.
“The Culture Counts Evaluation Framework offered valuable insights into various domains and helped align our strategy and vision.”Kevin du Preez, Executive Director, Monkey Baa View their report
Requirements
Monkey Baa approached Culture Counts to collaborate on the development of an outcomes framework designed for children and young audiences. The organisation had already developed a set of statements based on their own research, and Culture Counts used these as a basis for a bespoke framework that suited their unique needs whilst also pulling from our own academically-validated dimension statements.
Mr du Preez explained the importance of consulting with young people, stating:
“At Monkey Baa, we are deeply dedicated to creating a voice for young people in everything we do, giving them agency to provide impactful feedback. This commitment extends beyond this particular project and is embedded in our co-creation process with artists and young people, as well as our Youth Advisory Council, which consists of young people who advise the organisation on various issues and topics.”
The organisation sought to understand the impact of their annual performances in facilitating and education experiences for young audiences, along with the achievement of their key organisation goals:
- Bold and adventurous work
- Connected young audience
- Artists lead the way
- Future fit company
- Equity and belonging
Approach
Culture Counts collaborated with Monkey Baa to align the organisation’s key strategic goals with our Outcomes Framework, and then assisted with the creation of surveys for young audiences. We also consulted on the development of audience evaluation plans and advised on how best to collect data from children and young audiences.
Mr du Preez reflected on the unique challenges that came with creating an evaluation framework that suited Monkey Baa’s target audience needs.
“Monkey Baa creates work for young people aged between 3 and 12 years old. Engaging this target group for feedback can be challenging due to their young age and varying levels of communication skills. However, this challenge did not deter us. We found practical and child-friendly ways to securely and safely seek their input.”
Outcomes
A variety of learnings were established both during and after the implementation of this project including approaches to communication, how best to encourage meaningful engagement and key highlights from the data collected.
Approach to evaluating younger audiences
“We understand that our audience includes parents, carers, and grandparents. Our survey was designed to acknowledge these intergenerational groups.” said Mr du Preez.
He also shared how utilising different survey distribution methods enabled them to capture feedback from a diverse audience group.
“For the young people, we implemented innovative methods such as post-show colouring activities. These activities featured illustrations linked to the show, where children could colour and identify their feelings using pictograms based on child development psychology principles. Child development psychology is vital in ensuring that children can safely express their emotions. It recognises that children might have varying levels of ability to articulate their feelings and provides a way for them to communicate their emotions without needing to verbalise them directly, which can be particularly helpful for very young children.”
“Additionally, we leveraged our recent rebrand, incorporating engaging characters that reflect the feelings our audience experiences during shows. This method proved highly effective, gathering feedback from over 450 responses, with 70% coming from children under five.“
“We used a combination of QR codes and competitions to encourage participation. Parents played a crucial role in recording their children’s feedback, ensuring we captured accurate and meaningful insights.”
Evaluation key takeaways
The feedback collected from Monkey Baa’s surveys not only reflected the outstanding outcomes of the programs presented, but also allowed for greater research into how younger audiences can meaningfully engage with data collection.
“The key takeaway from the evaluation is that practical, child-friendly methods can effectively survey young people,” said Mr du Preez.
“By involving parents and carers, we ensured that even the youngest children could participate meaningfully. We also get direct input from young people, and augment this with feedback from our Youth Advisory Council and observations from school visits where our artists interact directly with students.”
One of Monkey Baa’s key goals was to connect with younger audiences, an outcome that was achieved and proven with statistical evidence.
“The most exciting outcome was understanding the nuanced emotions and feelings experienced by young people during the show,” he said, providing data that demonstrated the impact of the show on its audiences.
The results show how the simplified wording in the surveys was embraced by respondents.
“Over 96% survey respondents felt happy and 42% curious. It was particularly enlightening to see that over 62% of young people retold the story or asked questions after the show, and 37% engaged in play inspired by the performance.“
“Understanding post show observations, affirms our understanding that theatre initiates critical thinking, creative play, and exploration of themes. This highlights that our shows have a lasting impact, sparking curiosity and creativity in young minds.
Another significant outcome was the confirmation of the intergenerational shared experience of theatre for young people. The survey results underscored the importance of this aspect, showing that theatre not only engages children but also creates cherished memories for families, especially grandparents, who we affectionately call ‘grandparent memory makers’.”
Communicating the findings
Monkey Baa communicated the findings through a comprehensive report, which was shared internally with various departments, including marketing, creative, and production teams, allowing for feedback from multiple perspectives.
The report was also “summarised and made available online, providing transparency and accessibility.”
Part of the Culture Counts Six Step Evaluation Process is ‘Making Change’, a process in which Monkey Baa has exemplified with updates to the content of their shows.
“For instance, the production team used the feedback to adjust the intensity of a particularly scary scene in one of our shows,” said Mr du Preez.
“Balancing artistic integrity with audience feedback, especially from young people and their parents, was a critical part of this process.”
The organisation was also invited to present their findings to an industry group, further sharing their insights and methodologies.
“This presentation opportunity allowed us to contribute to the broader conversation about engaging young audiences and collecting meaningful feedback.”
Benefits of the Culture Counts Framework
When asked about how Culture Counts had been beneficial in the evaluation process, Mr du Preez said the following:
“The Culture Counts Outcome Framework provided several benefits for our organisation. Its well-researched and authoritative foundation gave us the confidence to build and adapt additional elements, resulting in a hybrid approach that suited our unique needs. While we used the framework for adult feedback, we designed specific questions for young people that aligned with our goals.”
“The framework offered valuable insights into various domains and helped align our strategy and vision. It enabled us to track indicators consistently over several seasons, allowing us to monitor progress and identify trends. Moreover, the flexibility of the framework allowed us to adapt and grow our measurement tools, particularly in assessing the impact on young people’s wellbeing.“
“Our next steps involve integrating a broader social impact framework with the Culture Counts Outcomes Framework. This will help us measure the overall wellbeing and social impact of our work on young people, providing a comprehensive view of our influence and effectiveness.”
Image attribution: 2023 Possum Magic national tour featuring Teale Howie and Sarah Woods, by Clare Hawley.
Are you interested in finding about more about Culture Counts? Contact us here to chat to the friendly Client Team.
