Slave Play
The Show
The producers of Slave Play hired us to work as their street team before they began previews for their Broadway production in September 2019. Prior to that, the show had a very well selling Off-Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop in 2018.
The Challenge
The challenges of Slave Play were largely due to its title and subject matter. The play’s plot revolved around interracial couples engaging in sex-play based around Antebellum scenes of slavery. This subject matter made it a quite controversial show during its Off-Broadway run. While both critics and audiences tended to be very positive about the show, a movement online had sprung up during the New York Theatre Workshop run that was deeply opposed to the show. This meant that our job for the Broadway run of the show was to pitch the show in a way that didn’t turn off potential patrons while also informing patrons of the potentially triggering material.
The Solution
Our strategy for combating these challenges took on a few different forms. At TKTS, we utilized almost entirely a ‘soft-sell’ strategy. This was because the content of the show was potentially triggering for some patrons, we didn’t want to lose a sale by being too intense. We also made sure that we had a crew member of color being the primary sales representative for Slave Play, though, of course, all of our crew members would promote it. By having the designated promoter for Slave Play be a person of color, we allowed for them to open up more complex and nuanced discussion with non-white patrons about the play.
One of the one-line pitches that we find worked very well for Slave Play at TKTS was “Check out the most controversial show on Broadway.” This would typically draw patrons in and lead to them asking for more information about the show. In general, the trick to making a sale at TKTS is to get the patrons asking questions about a given show. Using the controversy of Slave Play as a selling point turned what could have been a challenge into an attribute.
Similar to the Off-Broadway run, the Broadway production of Slave Play received very positive reviews from the critics. We then used these positive reviews to drum up interest in the show at TKTbS. We would frame Slave Play as one of the shows to see before the Tony Awards and quote the glowing reviews. At one point, we even handed out copies of the New York Times’ glowing review of Slave Play. This critical support helped validate the show in the eyes of patrons and helped differentiate Slave Play from a crowded line-up of plays on Broadway in the fall of 2019.
Additionally, our presence at TKTS allowed us to give the producers valuable feedback about the ways that different marketing strategies were working. This enabled us to change tactics if a certain strategy wasn’t working. As one example, at one point the flyer that we were using at TKTS got re-designed to be more effective, based on feedback that we gave the producers and marketing team.
Outside of TKTS, we worked a variety of targeted events for the show. These events included events that were aimed directly at the Black community as well as pop-up events. One of the most fun events we worked was when the playwright of Slave Play, Jeremy O. Harris, held an impromptu dance party in Times Square and we were on-hand to give out flyers for Slave Play to interested passers-by.
The Results
The sales numbers for Slave Play at TKTS were an incredible success! We would frequently sell the show out at TKTS and have to send patrons straight to the theatre to look for tickets. At our highest point, we sold enough tickets to cover the cost of our services 59 times over. In fact, we never went a single week of the contract where we did not pay for our own services through ticket sales. All in all, Slave Play was a smashing success, so much so that it extended it’s limited run!
