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VOL. 9, NO. 1 
SPRING 2020 

 

Crowdfunding Canadian Theatre  
An Exploratory Analysis of Kickstarter Data with US Comparison 

Mohammad Keyhani 
University of Calgary 

Safaneh Mohaghegh Neyshabouri 
University of Calgary 

Abbas Hosseini Amereii 
SkipTheDishes.com 

ABSTRACT: This study presents an exploratory and descriptive analysis of Canadian 
theatre projects on the Kickstarter platform, using both quantitative and qualitative 
data. We argue that crowdfunding is particularly relevant to arts entrepreneurship 
due to its emphasis on engaging an “audience” from the outset. Our quantitative 
analysis finds that many theatre projects in Canada are successfully raising funds on 
Kickstarter, with the success rate being similar to that of theatre projects in the US, 
but on a relatively smaller scale in terms of the amount of money raised. Only the 
provinces of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta have more than three 
theatre projects on Kickstarter within the timeframe of our data, and in total each 
province is able to raise about ten to forty-thousand dollars per year for theatre 
projects through this platform. In our qualitative analysis we find that theatre 
crowdfunding in Canada is geared toward small-scale and subsistence-level funding, 
which could be construed as somewhat in line with the traditional hesitation to fully 
embrace profit-making in arts entrepreneurship, but may also be due to the local 
nature and limited ticketing capacity of theatre projects and what they perceive to 
be feasibly achievable goals on Kickstarter. KEYWORDS: crowdfunding, theatre, 
creative media, performing arts, entrepreneurship, financing. 



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Introduction: The Rise of Crowdfunding 
The rise of the internet and information technology has resulted in novel forms of business 
models around which entire new categories of businesses have formed (Afuah & Tucci 2001). 
Clear examples of this phenomenon that have started to change our way of life in a matter of a 
few short years include collaborative consumption (i.e. the sharing economy) models such as 
Uber, RelayRides, DogVacay and Airbnb, online marketplaces such as eBay, Alibaba, Craigslist 
and Kijiji, as well as crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, GoFundMe, 
PledgeMusic and ArtistShare. 

Crowdfunding can be considered a form of entrepreneurship technology, in the sense that 
it provides technological support that enables and empowers people to profit from providing 
value-adding products and services. The modern technologies of entrepreneurship substantially 
expand the scope of people who can become entrepreneurs thereby contributing to the 
democratization of entrepreneurship (Bannerman 2013). More specifically, crowdfunding 
compresses the value chain, allowing individuals, teams or organizations to take their offerings 
directly to market, when otherwise they would have to incur considerably higher costs in 
making payments (typically without sharing in risk and uncertainty) to players and 
intermediaries in other segments of the value chain before getting a product out to market. In 
this sense, crowdfunding reduces the separation between a creator’s role as an artist and their 
role as an entrepreneur, by removing the barriers in the path from making art, to engaging an 
audience and making money from art. 

However, the value of crowdfunding is not limited to the supply side. On the demand side, 
crowdfunding provides consumers with access to innovations and artistic productions 
otherwise unavailable in the market, lower prices due to removed intermediaries, and new ways 
to co-create value with suppliers and support non-profit causes and civic common goods 
projects they care about, among other benefits (Gerber & Hui 2013). Nevertheless, 
crowdfunding as a novel mode of business is still in somewhat of an experimental stage, and 
involves significant risks for both funders and fund recipients (L. M. Hughes 2013; Wells 2013). 
Legal frameworks that regulate crowdfunding are still in their infancy but are evolving around 
the globe (Coke 2017). Canada in particular has been lagging behind leading countries in 
crowdfunding regulation by about half a decade to a decade (NCFA 2016). 

Crowdfunding and Arts Entrepreneurship 
Arts Entrepreneurship as a field of study and education has investigated the relationship 
between arts and entrepreneurship, with a key question of concern being how entrepreneurship 
can result in financial support for artmaking. What constitutes entrepreneurship in this line of 
thinking has been conceptualized broadly. For example, Essig (2015, 6) suggests that arts 
entrepreneurship “exists on a continuum from individual artists adopting entrepreneurial 
habits of mind in their practice at one end to new venture creation in the creative industries at 
the other.” Gartner (2015, 5) has suggested that a key question for arts entrepreneurship should 
be “How do artists organize themselves, both in terms of how they generate art, and, in how 



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what is produced, as art, is valued and exchanged?” More recently, Callander (2019) has 
suggested to expand the scope of arts entrepreneurship to conceptualize artmaking itself as an 
entrepreneurial endeavor, especially in relation to theories of effectuation and emancipation. 
Scherdin & Zander’s (2011, 3) definition of arts entrepreneurship encompasses this scope: “the 
discovery and pursuit of new art ideas, using a multitude of artistic expressions and 
organizational forms as vehicles by which to express and convey these ideas to the public.” 

The rise of crowdfunding has resulted in reduced barriers to entrepreneurship and 
provided new financing opportunities especially in areas like creative and performing arts, crafts 
and entertainment where traditional funding interest is low due to a dearth of high-growth 
scalable venture opportunities, but popular consumption interest is high enough for crowds to 
be able to make a difference.  

But a business financing mechanism for the arts is not the only function of crowdfunding. 
For many arts entrepreneurs who may not even form, let alone incorporate a company, the 
process of crowdfunding may comprise a substantial portion of the business aspect of their 
creative projects. In addition, many creators seek only subsistence funding through 
crowdfunding platforms, or use these platforms as a method of soliciting “donations” rather 
than for-profit business transactions1. While arts crowdfunding can be conceptualized as a 
method of providing financial support for artmaking, it can also be viewed as an organizational 
tool for the process of artmaking itself, and crucially, a tool for the process of engaging with the 
audience of artwork. In fact, the word “crowd” in crowdfunding is largely a business buzzword 
counterpart to the word “audience” in the arts literature. For this reason, crowdfunding is not 
only “as relevant” to arts entrepreneurship as other tools of entrepreneurship, but perhaps one 
of the most relevant technologies in the context of arts entrepreneurship. 

Given the above, it is no surprise that two of the first ever crowdfunding platforms to 
operate on a noticeable scale were ArtistShare and Sellaband, both focusing on music 
crowdfunding (Martinez-Canas, Ruiz-Palomino, & del Pozo-Rubio 2012). The current most 
popular crowdfunding platforms IndieGoGo and Kickstarter both have large numbers of 
creative arts projects, with the seeds of the former being motivated by the desire to fund a film 
or theatre production (Wikipedia 2017), and the latter being motivated by the desire to help 
fund musicians and music bands (Best & Neiss 2014). By some estimates, Kickstarter is now 
directing more funding to artists in the US than the country’s National Endowment for the Arts 
(MacPhee 2012). 

Using Nambisan’s (2017) framework regarding the impact of digital technologies on 
entrepreneurship, the impact of crowdfunding on arts entrepreneurship can be investigated in 
terms of how it opens boundaries in the processes, outcomes, and agency of arts 
entrepreneurship. In particular, the function of crowdfunding in audience engagement from 
the outset relates to the important functions of case-making and stakeholder engagement 
previously discussed in the arts entrepreneurship literature (Bonin-Rodriguez 2012, 2015; 

 
1 While Kickstarter is considered a “reward-based” rather than “donation-based” crowdfunding platform. 
Eligible rewards can include “thank you notes” and similar items of little or no monetary value, effectively acting 
as donation options. 



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Callander 2019). In other words, the technology of crowdfunding allows artists to undertake 
case-making and stakeholder engagement on a previously unprecedented scale. 

Many of the most active categories of crowdfunding are related to different forms of artistic 
media; film, music, and publishing have the first, second, and third highest number of projects 
on Kickstarter, respectively. Creative artists that traditionally rely more heavily on government 
funding are finding it increasingly difficult to finance their projects through traditional means 
as competition has increased, and government budgets have been cut. Therefore, many in these 
industries are looking to crowdfunding as an alternative source of financing, although it is 
widely recognized that the amount of money that is possible to raise through crowdfunding for 
such projects is generally low and thus best suited to small scale indie productions (Nordicity 
2012). 

Crowdfunding is especially beneficial for start-up or emerging creative artists and 
producers because of its potential to generate recognition and confer much needed legitimacy 
for these entities. Furthermore, crowdfunding is an excellent fit for projects that have a niche 
audience, because such projects are much less likely to be able to attract investors looking for 
large profits through large markets (Nordicity 2012).  

Crowdfunding Theatre: Significance and Existing Literature 
Theatre has been argued to have a range of positive effects on society for decades (Etherton & 
Prentki 2006). In the early 1920’s, British theatre director Harley Granville Barker promoted the 
idea of “exemplary theatre” that had an educational role and contributed to the health of liberal 
society, thus having the nature of a public good that needs to be supported financially by 
government (Gjaerum 2013). Perhaps due to this primacy of an ethical and developmental role 
often prioritized over entertainment by theatre producers, financing has always been a challenge 
for theatre (Cohen 1990; D. A. Hughes 2007). It is generally recognized by most governments 
that arts financing involves market failure and thus needs government support (Peacock 2000). 
An example of market failure is the spillover effects of theatre on a community which provides 
benefits to non-users of the theatre without compensating the theatre for those benefits (Hansen 
1997).  

Hence, as Etherton and Prentki (2006) point out, writing proposals to seek funding from 
governments, NGOs and other donors is almost second nature to arts workers. But this reliance 
on large donations renders theatre productions vulnerable to appropriation and undue 
influence by donor agendas (Balfour 2009). The significance of theatre crowdfunding is that it 
has the potential to be the solution that liberates theatre from these individual donor agendas, 
while at the same time providing a mechanism for non-users to contribute to theatre projects 
(Hansen 1997). Despite this significance, existing literature on theatre crowdfunding is sparse. 
We attempt to summarize insights from existing literature below.  

In a way, crowdfunding theatre projects is similar to a tradition that can be traced to the 
dawn of theatre. Drama originates in ancient Greece, where Dionysus, the god of vine and wine, 
fertility and theatre, was celebrated over the course of a few days in the Festival of Dionysus. 
The theatre performances of the festival were funded by the Choragi who were wealthy Greek 



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citizens (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica 1998). Since the performances in the festival 
competed for first, second, or third place, the riches and charitability of a Choragus gave his 
assigned playwright an advantage over the others. When a play won the first place, the Choragus 
that supported its production was officially awarded the prize. It was perhaps this sense of 
acknowledgement by the community that encouraged the Choragus to put the utmost effort in 
supporting the theatre they produced. 

Of course, crowdfunding theatre has become much easier today thanks to platforms such 
as Kickstarter. However, cultural industries such as film, music, and video games are doing 
much better at raising funds via these platforms than do theatre projects. In explaining this 
phenomenon, we can draw on the distinction made by Colbert (2012) between the arts sector 
and cultural industries on the grounds that the nature of the products they produce is different. 
While the products of cultural industries can be reproduced (film, music, video), the products 
of arts organizations are not meant or designed for reproduction. For instance, theatre 
productions are bound by their location. They must be performed on a stage and unlike a music 
record, or the copy of a film, cannot travel to different location without hassle.  

As a result, there is a fundamental connection between the performing arts and their local 
communities (Rogers 2012). Gerber and Hui (2013) suggest that while material rewards play an 
important role in the motivations of crowdfunders in technology, music and film, in theatre we 
do not see a similar pattern. As a matter of fact, material rewards may negatively affect the 
crowdfunding campaigns of theatre projects. Philanthropic sponsorship of arts projects is 
viewed more favourably than commercial sponsorship, and theatre companies may fear 
tarnishing their reputation by seeking corporate support (Dalakas 2009). 

In their study of 875 theatre projects in the US that have met their funding goal on 
Kickstarter in 2011, Boeuf, Darveau, and Legoux (2014, 43) concluded that performing arts 
funders are “guided by a prosocial exchange.” Per their study, symbolic rewards such as public 
acknowledgment for their contribution is important in the success of a theatre funding 
campaign. Their study also found that the greater the number of theatre projects an 
entrepreneur submits for crowdfunding, the lower the amount of money they can raise. 
Crowdfunding in theatre follows the pattern of reciprocal exchange and soliciting the same 
crowd for subsequent projects has the potential to induce fatigue. Hence, Boeuf, et al. suggest 
that entrepreneurs in the field should focus on image motivation. Like the Choragi of the ancient 
Greece, modern day crowdfunders of performing arts are motivated “by a desire to belong to a 
community of creative individuals,” (Boeuf et al. 2014, 45). Since a theatre entrepreneur’s 
participation in their peer’s campaigns boosts the sense of community and support, it also 
increases the chances for the success of her future crowdfunding campaigns. Beyond these 
insights however, there is little that we know about theatre crowdfunding due to a lack of 
existing research. 

Aim and Scope 
This paper focuses on theatre crowdfunding as one of the as-yet under-studied categories of 
creative arts crowdfunding. We limit our scope to theatre crowdfunding on the Kickstarter 



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platform and in the country of Canada, although our data allows some comparative analyses 
with theatre crowdfunding projects in the United States, where the bulk of Kickstarter projects 
(~78% of all projects and ~80% of theatre projects) are located. The aim of our study is to 
provide some initial understanding of the theatre crowdfunding landscape, especially in 
Canada, in order to illustrate the usefulness of geographically localized analysis of large 
crowdfunding datasets. We hope to provide readers with an understanding of the scale of 
activity, backers and money involved, the geographical and temporal patterns, the type of 
projects, people, motivations, and aspirations involved, etc. All of this is useful to, and provides 
context for, future researchers aiming to study theatre crowdfunding. In what follows, we first 
provide some background on creative media crowdfunding in Canada, as well as a review of the 
limited literature that exists on theatre crowdfunding. We then describe the quantitative and 
qualitative data and the underlying data collection effort, before continuing to present and 
discuss exploratory results and analyses on theatre crowdfunding in Canada-based Kickstarter 
projects including some comparison with theatre crowdfunding in US-based Kickstarter 
projects. 

Crowdfunding activity has been lagging in Canada compared to the US but has grown 
consistently in the past few years. The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA) 
reports that the volume of crowdfunding transactions in Canada reached $133 million in 2015 
(NCFA 2016), while a variety of regulatory efforts by provincial securities commissions and 
other stakeholders since 2012 has gradually opened the institutional pathways for crowdfunding 
in Canada. 

Data and Methods 
We chose a combination of quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods to explore theatre 
crowdfunding. Quantitative analysis allows us to explore the aggregate patterns, while 
qualitative analysis allows us to observe interesting outliners and compare the unique details 
that arise in different theatre crowdfunding projects.  

Quantitative Data 
We used a combination of software tools to scrape data directly from the Kickstarter website 
and search Application Programming Interface (API), as well as to store, clean, and analyze the 
data. The stack of software tools used include MySQL, Java, Postman, Firebug, Excel, and Stata. 
We were able to collect data on all completed theatre projects in the US and Canada launched 
on dates ranging from April 28, 2009 (the day that the Kickstarter platform itself was launched 
on the internet) to November 22, 2016. What we mean by “completed” is that the projects were 
not still live at the time of scanning and not suspended by Kickstarter for violating the site’s 
rules (which are very rare cases). Only one theatre project in Canada has ever been suspended 
and when we checked its page we found it to be a prank not at all related to theatre. Note that 
although Kickstarter technically opened to Canadians only after September 2013, as early as 
2010 we observe theatre projects launched on Kickstarter that self-reported their location as 



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Canada. Canadians were able to launch projects on Kickstarter before 2013 by finding work-
arounds such as enlisting a third-party partner that had the necessary eligibility requirements 
such as US social security number, id, bank account, and address (Nordicity 2012). 

After dropping suspended cases, the state of each project at the end of completion can have 
a status of either canceled, failed, or successful. Unlike Boeuf et al. (2014), we were able to collect 
data on unsuccessful (canceled or failed) projects. According to Kickstarter’s “all-or-nothing” 
rule system (Cumming, Leboeuf, & Schwienbacher 2014), the money pledged does not reach 
the project creator(s) unless the status of the project is successful at completion. Success is 
defined as having received a total pledged amount larger than the goal amount set for the project 
before the deadline (which the campaign creator can set at 60 days or less after launch). Unlike 
equity-based or donation-based crowdfunding platforms (Belleflamme, Lambert, & 
Schwienbacher 2013), Kickstarter is a reward-based platform meaning that backers expect to 
receive a reward in return for their funding. In theatre projects, the reward is most often tickets 
to attend a theatre production. However, project creators can be creative with the way they 
design rewards, and many of them blur the line between reward and donation. For example, for 
small amounts, rewards often include such things as “thank you” notes. 

 
Table 1: Number of Kickstarter Theatre Projects by Year. 

 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total 
Canada 0 2 12 4 16 58 51 29 172 
US 51 564 1,398 1,692 1,200 1,252 1,037 614 7,808 

 
In total, we found 172 completed theatre projects that had indicated their location to be 

from Canada and 7,808 theatre projects from the US. For each project we collected data on the 
project title and URL, self-reported country, province or state, city or town, sub-category, status 
at completion, number of backers, amount of money targeted (goal) and pledged in (In USD, 
converted from CAD to USD equivalent for Canadian projects for comparability), and launch 
date. The number of projects launched in each year from 2009 to 2016 in our data is reported 
in Table 1. Note that 2016 numbers are lower because we did not have data on the full year. In 
sum, we collected quantitative data on 7,980 Kickstarter projects. 

For comparison of Canadian provinces, we used additional population data from the 
Canadian socioeconomic database from Statistics Canada (CANSIM). We calculated the 
proportion of the population of each province relative to the total population of Canada. Since 
these proportions were almost completely stable from 2009-2016, we use only the 2016 
proportions.  

Qualitative Data 
We selected a number of theatre projects for additional data collection from qualitative sources, 
including the project’s Kickstarter page and media coverage of the project. Our selection 
criterion was to include all Canadian theatre projects that have raised the highest amount of 
money in their subcategory in their province. This produced a list of 27 Canadian theatre 



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projects in total, which are detailed in Table 2. In addition, we created synopses or summary 
descriptions of twenty-five of these projects (all of the English language and one of the French 
campaigns) and made an attempt to track their status and media coverage after their Kickstarter 
campaigns. These summaries are provided in the appendix, and are meant to illustrate the 
variety, nature, and scale of Canadian theatre projects that have succeeded in crowdfunding on 
Kickstarter. 

 
Table 2: Significant Successful Canadian Theatre Projects Selected for Qualitative Review. 

Title, Blurb, Significance and URL Project Characteristics 
Title: Perchance's Fifth Season: It's a party and you're invited! 
Blurb: We have reached a pivotal stage of our growth, and we 
are asking you to help us continue to produce and present truly 
excellent theatre 
Significance: Only successful project in Newfoundland and 
Labrador. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/418144630/perchances-
fifth-season-its-a-party-and-youre-invi 

Location: Cupids, NL 
Subcategory: General 
Backers: 76 
CAD Raised: $10,281 
Launch Date: 13-08-2014 

Title: SPACES 
Blurb: A night of integrational movement theatre exploring 
space/proximity, privacy/openness in human relationships. 
Significance: Best in the experimental sub-category in Ontario. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1214425795/spaces-
1 

Location: Toronto, ON 
Subcategory: Experimental 
Backers: 13 
CAD Raised: $610 
Launch Date: 10-06-2016 

Title: The Watershed Staging Workshop 
Blurb: A staging workshop for Porte Parole's new documentary 
theatre piece - The Watershed - about freshwater politics in 
Canada. 
Significance: Best in Quebec. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1965066139/the-
watershed-staging-workshop 

Location: Montreal, QC 
Subcategory: General 
Backers: 181 
CAD Raised: $21,712 
Launch Date: 08-05-2014 

Title: Give Guelph a Permanent Home for Comedy and Improv 
Blurb: Our community has made it clear that we need a home 
for live comedy, improv training, joy and empowerment. Let's 
make happy happen! 
Significance: Best in Ontario. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/680747663/give-
guelph-a-permanent-home-for-comedy-and-improv 

Location: Guelph, ON 
Subcategory: General 
Backers: 204 
CAD Raised: $24,355 
Launch Date: 27-05-2016 

Title: THE ORBWEAVER, from Mexico to the Vancouver Fringe 
Festival 
Blurb: The WORLD PREMIERE of The Orbweaver, a Mexican 
fairytale, at the 2016 Vancouver Fringe Festival. 
Significance: Best in the festivals sub-category in British 
Columbia. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2123279654/the-
orbweaver-from-mexico-to-the-vancouver-fringe 

Location: Vancouver, BC 
Subcategory: Festivals 
Backers: 15 
CAD Raised: $2,000 
Launch Date: 22-07-2016 

Title: Temporala - Help get this Sci-Fi Magic Show on the road! 
Blurb: This show is written, built, and ready to hit the Vegas 
strip. But now we’re stuck in Canada with no way to get there 
without your help 
Significance: Best in Alberta. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1311336075/temporala-
help-get-this-sci-fi-magic-show-on-the-r 

Location: Calgary, AB 
Subcategory: General 
Backers: 37 
CAD Raised: $7,350 
Launch Date: 10-09-2015 



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Title, Blurb, Significance and URL Project Characteristics 
Title: You're a Good Man Charlie Brown 
Blurb: The generosity shown by our supporters has truly 
touched us. We thank everyone for believing in summer theatre. 
Warm regards, Pip & Dan 
Significance: Best in the musical sub-category in Ontario. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/976986587/youre-a-
good-man-charlie-brown-fundraiser 

Location: Bancroft, ON 
Subcategory: Musical 
Backers: 47 
CAD Raised: $4,395 
Launch Date: 30-01-2015 

Title: Giant Co. - HONESTY RENTS BY THE HOUR - Montreal 
Fringe 
Blurb: Certainly not here for the conversation. 
Significance: Best in the festivals sub-category in Quebec. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1137416474/giant-
co-honesty-rents-by-the-hour-montreal-fringe 

Location: Montreal, QC 
Subcategory: Festivals 
Backers: 26 
CAD Raised: $1,265 
Launch Date: 26-02-2016 

Title: StrayDog Theatre Company into the West Theatre Fest 
Blurb: StrayDog Theatre Company is making a trip out west to 
participate in the into the west theatre festival on Bowen Island. 
Significance: Best in the general sub-category in British 
Columbia. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/626742877/straydog-
theatre-company-into-the-west-theatre-fes 

Location: Bowen Island, BC 
Subcategory: General 
Backers: 56 
CAD Raised: $6,695 
Launch Date: 
14-04-2011 

Title: Les Concubines 
Blurb: Spectacle-performance par des femmes sur la femme et 
ses visages Show-performance by women about the woman and 
her faces 
Significance: Best in the musical sub-category in Quebec. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lesconcubines/les-
concubines 

Location: Montreal, QC 
Subcategory: Musical 
Backers: 14 
CAD Raised: $1,000 
Launch Date: 01-04-2015 

Title: Three Things: Stories About Life 
Blurb: An inspirational one-man play about crisis, community, 
and the search for wholeness. 
Significance: Only successful project in the plays sub-category 
in Manitoba. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/whatilearned/three-
things-stories-about-life 

Location: Winnipeg, MB 
Subcategory: Plays 
Backers: 34 
CAD Raised: $2,500 
Launch Date: 03-11-2015 

Title: We Don't Need Another Hero 
Blurb: Part performance, part communal catharsis - an 
experiential spectacle inspired by Occupy, magnifying joy 
through dance, voice, theatre. 
Significance: Only successful project in the immersive sub-
category in Ontario. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/820995817/we-
dont-need-another-hero 

Location: Toronto, ON 
Subcategory: Immersive 
Backers: 54 
CAD Raised: $12,129 
Launch Date: 08-03-2015 

Title: Merlin, les Origines d'une légende 
Blurb: Spectacle de légende fantastique dans un amphithéâtre 
naturel en forêt à St-Mathieu-du-Parc 
Significance: Only successful project in the immersive sub-
category in Quebec. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/983474354/merlin-
les-origines-dune-legende 

Location: St.-Mathieu-du-Parc, QC 
Subcategory: Immersive 
Backers: 147 
CAD Raised: $5,721 
Launch Date: 14-05-2016 

Title: ROOMIES - Atlantic Canada Tour 2016-17 
Blurb: Help us strengthen and inspire disability arts in Atlantic 
Canada 
Significance: Only successful project in New Brunswick. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1869186779/hubcity-
theatre-roomies-atlantic-canada-tour-2016 

Location: Moncton, NB 
Subcategory: Plays 
Backers: 32 
CAD Raised: $2,512 
Launch Date: 02-03-2016 



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Title, Blurb, Significance and URL Project Characteristics 
Title: Welcome Back to Harlem: A Hellfighter's Story 
Blurb: A Harlem Hellfighter struggles to re-integrate into his 
community after heroically fighting for his country in WW1. 
Significance: Best in the plays sub-category in British 
Columbia. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellfighter/welcome-
back-to-harlem-a-hellfighters-story 

Location: Vancouver, BC 
Subcategory: Plays 
Backers: 57 
CAD Raised: $7,220 
Launch Date: 30-05-2014 

Title: Harvest 
Blurb: The Harvest Festival is a two-day performance festival 
taking place in September 2015, involving local and 
international artists 
Significance: Best in the experimental sub-category in British 
Columbia. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1771498201/harvest 

Location: Vancouver, BC 
Subcategory: Experimental 
Backers: 43 
CAD Raised: $5,044 
Launch Date: 18-06-2015 

Title: Save The Stardust Drive-in Theatre 
Blurb: We need your help to save part of North American 
history! Check out our news video at:  http://bcove.me/3i2zd1ov 
Significance: Best in Canada and only successful project in the 
general sub-category in Manitoba. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/888695472/save-
the-stardust-drive-in-theatre 

Location: Morden, MB 
Subcategory: General 
Backers: 419 
CAD Raised: $31,975 
Launch Date: 03-06-2015 

Title: Uncalled For Presents: Playday Mayday in Toronto! 
Blurb: Uncalled For is finally bringing their latest work of 
intelligently reckless stream-of-consciousness sketch comedy to 
Toronto. 
Significance: Best in the plays sub-category in Ontario. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/460026610/uncalled-for-
presents-playday-mayday-in-toronto 

Location: Toronto, ON 
Subcategory: Plays 
Backers: 114 
CAD Raised: $10,338 
Launch Date: 30-08-2016 

Title: Seabird is Going to New York! 
Blurb: Help Theatre Babelle's Seabird is in a Happy Place make 
the flight from West Coast to East for its NY Premiere! 
Significance: Only successful project in the immersive sub-
category in British Columbia 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1649585741/seabird-is-
going-to-new-york 

Location: Vancouver, BC 
Subcategory: Immersive 
Backers: 29 
CAD Raised: $2,166 
Launch Date: 22-06-2015 

Title: A Moment of Silence 
Blurb: English Premiere of award-winning play A Moment of 
Silence 
Significance: Best in the festivals sub-category in Ontario. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nowadaystheatre/a-
moment-of-silence 

Location: Toronto, ON 
Subcategory: Festivals 
Backers: 35 
CAD Raised: $4,000 
Launch Date: 08-07-2016 

Title: ONTARIO STREET THEATRE in Port Hope. 
Blurb: We're an affordable theatre and rental space that can be 
molded into anything by anyone. 
Significance: Only successful project in the spaces sub-category 
in Ontario. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1359145496/ontario-
street-theatre-in-port-hope 

Location: Port Hope, ON 
Subcategory: Spaces 
Backers: 97 
CAD Raised: 48,620 
Launch Date: 14-11-2014 

Title: PSYCHOC une comédie libertine de Bernard Granger 
Blurb: Un psychiatre reçoit une patiente souffrant d'amnésie, de 
mythomanie et de nymphomanie. S'en suit une cascade 
d'événements drolatiques. 
Significance: Best in the plays sub-category in Quebec. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/817107082/psychoc-une-
comedie-libertine-de-bernard-granger 

Location: Montreal, QC 
Subcategory: Plays 
Backers: 35 
CAD Raised: $1,668 
Launch Date: 12-01-2016 



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Title, Blurb, Significance and URL Project Characteristics 
Title: Family in Church a new play by Pascale Roger-McKeever 
Blurb: a tragic-comedy exploring the reactions of a family when 
faced with the death of one of their daughter’s best friend. 
Significance: Best in Nova Scotia. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/48259355/family-
in-church-a-new-play-by-pascale-roger-mckee 

Location: Halifax, NS 
Subcategory: General 
Backers: 91 
CAD Raised: $5,260 
Launch Date: 18-03-2011 

Title: Dog Sees God - Calgary Production 
Blurb: A poignant & hilarious tale of Charlie Brown & friends 
navigating high school. A fresh take on the off Broadway hit by 
YYC artists. 
Significance: Only successful project in the plays sub-category 
in Alberta. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1538343980/dog-
sees-god-calgary-production 

Location: Calgary, AB 
Subcategory: Plays 
Backers: 17 
CAD Raised: $1,625 
Launch Date: 03-04-2015 

Title: A Taste of Broadway 
Blurb: A delectable musical revue that offers the history of 
Broadway served up in story, dance, images and song. 
Significance: Best in the musical sub-category in Alberta. 
URL: 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/perfectlyimperfects/a-
taste-of-broadway 

Location: Calgary, AB 
Subcategory: Musical 
Backers: 42 
CAD Raised: $4,500 
Launch Date: 15-04-2016 

Title: Two Monkeys Productions presents "Edges" 
Blurb: Two Monkeys Productions - a new professional theatre 
company in Vancouver. Opening their first production "Edges" 
on April 3rd, 2015 
Significance: Only successful project in the musical sub-
category in British Columbia. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/828798542/two-
monkeys-productions-presents-edges 

Location: Vancouver, BC 
Subcategory: Musical 
Backers: 33 
CAD Raised: $2,005 
Launch Date: 06-03-2015 

Title: Like This Post (The Post at 750) 
Blurb: Introducing The Post at 750! Join us in the creation of 
Vancouver's most exciting new cultural space in the heart of 
downtown. 
Significance: Only successful project in the spaces sub-category 
in British Columbia. 
URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1938540856/like-
this-post-the-post-at-750 

Location: Vancouver, BC 
Subcategory: Spaces 
Backers: 128 
CAD: $16,501 
Launch Date: 19-03-2015 

A Note on the Categorization of Theatre Campaigns in Kickstarter 
It needs to be noted that categorization of campaigns on the Kickstarter platform is no exact 
science. Kickstarter allows users to self-select the category and subcategory of their campaigns., 
and many of the options to choose from are not mutually exclusive. For example one creator 
may choose to categorize a musical production under the “Musical” subcategory or theatre, 
while another user may categorize a similar production outside of the theatre category and 
instead in the “Dance” category (which would not show up in our data). Another still may 
choose the theatre category but not specify any subcategory, in which case we would count them 
in the “general” subcategory. 

Furthermore, the categorization system on Kickstarter evolves, with new categories and 
subcategories being created by the platform over time. Unfortunately, data on the timing and 
nature of past changes in categorization was not available to us. In either case the vast majority 
of projects in the theatre category have not specified a subcategory and are thus categorized as 
general (46% of Canadian theatre campaigns and 75% of US theatre campaigns. The 
categorization system used in this paper is what Kickstarter had in place at the time of data 



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collection in 2016 and involved the subcategories of experimental, festivals, immersive, musical, 
plays, and spaces. Most campaigns categorized as “festival” sought financial support for taking 
a theatre production to a cultural festival such as a local Fringe Festival. Campaigns under the 
“spaces” subcategory typically sought financial support to build or renovate a local space for 
theatre production. 

Exploratory Quantitative Analysis 
Among the fifteen categories of projects on Kickstarter, theatre ranks as 10th in terms of the 
number of projects launched representing 3.09% of all Kickstarter projects, and 8th in terms of 
the mean US dollars pledged ($4,039) according to our data. In Canada however, theatre ranks 
as the 13th category in terms of number of projects, and only 1.45% of all Canada-based 
Kickstarter projects are in the theatre category. In terms of money pledged, theatre is the 12th 
ranked category in Canada. Canada accounts for 3.84% of all Kickstarter projects and 1.8% of 
all theatre projects on Kickstarter according to our data. 

In what follows, we divide our analysis into country-level and province-level statistics. In 
the country-level analysis we include comparisons with US data but focus on the Canadian data 
in province-level analyses. 

Country-level Analysis with US comparison 
Table 3 depicts some key statistics for US and Canadian theatre projects on Kickstarter. Since 
many of the variables studied here have skewed distributions (histograms displayed later on in 
this paper), we report medians as well as means in this table. Overall, we found that as of 
November 22, 2016 successfully completed Kickstarter theatre projects in the US have 
collectively raised more than $30 million, while Canadian projects have reached a collective sum 
of more than $300,000. When calculating amounts raised, we do not count money that was 
pledged but not received because the campaign did not meet its target goal. The average success 
rate, mean and median goals and money raised, as well as mean and median number of backers 
are all lower in Canada than the US, although this is to be expected as Canada has a much smaller 
population, much fewer projects, and was not officially allowed on Kickstarter for about half of 
our data’s time frame. Given this, it is interesting to observe that the success rate of Canadian 
theatre projects is as close as it is to the US success rate. According to these numbers, the average 
backer of successful Canadian theatre projects provides those projects with $71 USD of rewards-
based funding, while the average backer of successful US theatre projects provides $135 USD of 
reward-based funding. 

It is interesting to observe that successful projects on average seem to be much more 
conservative in their goal-setting than unsuccessful projects. While due to Kickstarter’s rules, 
all successful projects reach at least 100% of their target goal, looking at the percent of goal 
reached for unsuccessful projects can give us an idea of what thresholds are needed for success. 
We observe that 80% of unsuccessful theatre projects in Canada reach less than 15% of their 



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target (20% of target for the USA), confirming earlier studies that once a relatively low threshold 
is reached, the chances of success are high (Boeuf et al. 2014).  

 
Table 3: Key Statistics for US and Canadian Theatre Projects on Kickstarter. 

 Canada US 
Number of Projects Failed (Percentage) 16 (9.3%) 408 (5.23%) 

Number of Projects Canceled (Percentage) 57 (33.14%) 2,650 (33.94%) 
Number of Projects Successful (Percentage) 99 (57.56%) 4,750 (60.84%) 

Mean Project Goal in USD (All Projects) $18,497 $27,744 
Median Project Goal in USD (All Projects)  $2,457 $3,500 

Mean Project Goal in USD (Successful Projects) $3,027 $5,465 
Median Project Goal in USD (Successful Projects) $1,554 $3,000 

Mean USD Raised (Successful Projects) $3,415 $6,340 
Median USD Raised (Successful Projects) $1,819 $3,125 
Sum of USD Raised (Successful Projects) $338,051 $30,116,587 

Mean Number of Backers (Successful Projects) 48 75 
Median Number of Backers (Successful Projects) 29 47 

Mean Percent of Goal Reached (Unsuccessful 
Projects) 7% 11% 

Median Percent of Goal Reached (Unsuccessful 
Projects) 1% 3% 

80th Percentile of Percent of Goal Reached 
(Unsuccessful Projects) 15% 20% 

90th Percentile of Percent of Goal Reached 
(Unsuccessful Projects) 23% 34% 

Mean Percent of Goal Reached (Successful Projects) 125% 147% 
Median Percent of Goal Reached (Successful Projects) 108% 109% 

 

Figure 2: Mean US Dollars 
Pledged for Successful 
Canadian Theatre Projects 

Figure 2: Mean US Dollars Pledged 
for Successful US Theatre Projects 



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Next we increase the granularity of our country-level analysis to sub-categories. Figures 1 
and 2 depict average amount of money raised by successful projects in each sub-category for 
Canada and the US. Figures 3 and 4 decpict average number of backers by sub-category and 
Figures 5 and 6 break down the status and success rate statistics by sub-category. The patterns 
here are mostly consistent with category-level data, although some interesting irregularities are 
observed. For example, Canadian theater projects in the Musical sub-category seem to be 
performing especially poorly compared to their US counterparts when we look at the amount 

Figure 6: Mean Number of 
Backers for Successful Canadian 
Theatre Projects. 

Figure 6: Mean Number of Backers 
for Successful US Theatre Projects 

Figure 4: Outcome of Canadian 
Theatre Projects by Sub-Category. 

Figure 4: Outcome of US Theatre 
Projects by Sub-Category 



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of money raised and number of 
backers, although the Musical sub-
category in Canada has a higher rate 
of success than in the US. 
Meanwhile, the Festivals sub-
category exhibits an especially high 
success rate in Canada compared to 
the US (73.3%) while the Immersive 
theatre category exhibits an 
especially high cancellation rate 
(25%) and low success rate (37.5%), 
although these numbers could be 
prone to small numbers bias. 

Figures 7 and 8 present 
boxplots for the ratio of goal reached 
by country, for unsuccessful (failed 
or cancelled) and successful projects 
respectively. Outliers are excluded 
from these graphs because they 
would distort them substantially, 
especially for US-based projects 
where a few rare cases have been 
hugely successful. The white line at 
the center of the boxes represents the 
median, while the bottom and top 

Figure 8: Boxplot of Ratio of Goal Reached for 
Unsuccessful Theatre Projects. 

Figure 8: Boxplot of Ratio of Goal Reached for 
Successful Theatre Projects. 

Figure 9: Histogram of Launch Date for Theatre Projects in Canada and USA. 

 



ARTIVATE 9.1 

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edge of the box represent the 25th and 75th percentile respectively. These graphs confirm that 
almost all unsuccessful projects reach less than 20-40% of their goal. Figure 8 further shows that 
most successful projects surpass their goals by very little to moderate amounts. 

Figure 9 presents histograms of launch dates, which reveal an interesting seasonality, better 
observed for the US because of the higher number of projects. Project launches seem to peak in 
the summer months and slow down in the winter months. Also, the graphs clearly show that 
Canadian theatre activity on Kickstarter was rare before Kickstarter was officially launched in 
Canada in September 2013. The general time trend does not seem to be encouraging for 
Kickstarter, with a noticeable decline seeming to occur in the later months.  

Figure 11: Histogram of US Dollars Pledged for Successful Theatre Projects in Canada and 
USA. 

 

Figure 10: Histogram of Number of Backers for Successful Theatre Projects in Canada 
and USA. 



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Histograms of money raised and number of backers for successful projects (Figures 10 and 
11) reveal heavily skewed power law distributions as one would expect (Crawford, Aguinis, 
Lichtenstein, Davidsson, & McKelvey 2015). Power law phenomena are abundant in nature and 
social settings, but the term “power law” in business performance specifically refers to the 
statistical distribution of performance statistics where very few cases achieve great performance, 
while the majority achieve relatively low performance. The histograms are cropped to avoid the 
distortion effect of a small number of outliers.  

Province-level Analysis 
Figures 12 and 13 present descriptive statistics by province on the number of Canadian theatre 
projects and number of successful Canadian theatre projects. Table 4 puts the numbers in these 
figures into perspective by comparing their relative proportions to the relative proportion of 
Canadian population that resides in each province. 

In order to avoid the influence of small numbers bias, it may be helpful to narrow our focus 
on the four provinces that have more than twenty-five projects (all other provinces have only 
three or fewer). These are Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, in order of their 
proportion of Canada’s population. Of these, only Quebec has a proportion of Canadian theatre 
projects on Kickstarter and proportion of successful Canadian theatre projects on Kickstarter 
that are lower than its proportion of Canada’s population. This may be due to the language 
difference with Kickstarter being perceived as a predominantly English-language website, 
although the site does offer a French language interface and project creators can write 
descriptions in French as well. Beyond the language issue, two other competing hypotheses that 
could explain this finding are that either Quebec has an overall less active theatre scene relative 
to its population, or Quebec has a relatively more munificent funding environment for its 
theatre projects, thus reducing the need for crowdfunding as a substitute funding mechanism.  

 

Figure 13: Number of Canadian 
Theatre Projects by Province. 

Figure 13: Number of Successful 
Canadian Theatre Projects by Province. 



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Table 4: Comparison of Relative Proportion of Kickstarter Theatre Projects (All and Successful) with 
Relative Proportion of Population by Province. 

Province 
Proportion of 

Canadian Population  

Proportion of 
Canadian Theatre 

Projects 

Proportion of 
Successful Canadian 

Theatre Projects 
Ontario 0.385 0.430 0.444 
Quebec 0.229 0.174 0.162 

British Columbia 0.131 0.174 0.222 
Alberta 0.117 0.157 0.111 

Manitoba 0.036 0.017 0.020 
Saskatchewan 0.032 0.000 0.000 

Nova Scotia 0.026 0.012 0.020 
New Brunswick 0.021 0.017 0.010 
Newfoundland 

and Labrador 
0.015 

0.012 0.010 
Prince Edward 

Island 
0.004 

0.000 0.000 
Yukon 0.001 0.006 0.000 

Northwest 
Territories 

0.001 
0.000 0.000 

Nunavut 0.001 0.000 0.000 
 
Figures 14 and 15 present descriptive statistics by province on the amount of money raised 

and number of backers for successful Canadian theatre projects. Interestingly, most of the 
provinces with the fewest number of successful projects (with the exception of New Brunswick) 
have the highest average amount of money raised. This means that the few projects that 
succeeded in those provinces (Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia) 
succeeded at a very high level relative to the average of other provinces. The same pattern is 
observed when we look at the number of backers metric. This result may indicate a loss of 
novelty effect such that the first few Kickstarter campaigns in any locale enjoy a certain appeal 
boost due to their novelty, but as more of the local population become familiar with Kickstarter 
campaigns and more projects seek their attention and money, the appeal factor is dampened.  

Figure 15: Mean US Dollars Pledged 
for Successful Canadian Theatre 
Projects by Province. 

Figure 15: Mean Number of Backers for 
Successful Canadian Theatre Projects by 
Province. 



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Given the relatively small-scale and subsistence-level funding that occurs through theatre 
crowdfunding campaigns, a relevant comparator group for which statistics broken down by 
province are available may be non-profit performing arts companies. Statistics Canada provides 
statistics on the number of performances and attendances, as well as revenue amounts for these 
companies. Table 5 lists these statistics by province for the year 2016. Since Statistics Canada 
collects this data on a biannual basis and did not have 2015 numbers, while our data for 2016 is 
incomplete, we compare some of the data points in Table 5 with provincial aggregates in our 
data for 2015 which is the closest year for which we have full Kickstarter data.  

According to our data, in 2015, Ontario theatre campaigns raised $38,269, British 
Columbia campaigns raised $31,670, Quebec campaigns raised $13,094, and Alberta campaigns 
raised $12,706 in total funding through Kickstarter. These numbers are equivalent to 23% of 
revenue from grants, subsidies, donations, sponsorships, or fundraising events in 2016 for non-
profit performing arts companies in the province of Ontario, 64% for British Columbia, 12% for 
Quebec, and 24% for Alberta. However, if we expand the comparator group to include for-profit 
performing arts companies and count revenues from all sources, the total amounts raised on 
Kickstarter are miniscule compared to the billion-dollar scale aggregate annual revenues of the 
performing arts industry. 

 
Table 5: Performance, attendance, and revenue statistics for non-profit performing arts companies 
in Canada by Province, for 2016. Statistics Canada Table 21-10-0185-01 and Table  21-10-0186-01. 
N/A: Not available from Statistics Canada. 

Geography 
Total # of 

Performances 
Total 

Attendance 

Avg. 
Attendance 

per 
Performance 

Revenue 
from Sales 
($ CAD) 

Revenue from 
Grants, 

subsidies, 
donations, 

sponsorships 
& fundraising 

($ CAD) 

Revenue 
from 

Licensing 
($ CAD) 

Canada 39,013 12,174,596 312 375,818.60 412,416.90 1,234.30 
Ontario 10,883 3,638,004 334 149,848.10 167,849.60 475.6 
Quebec 10,185 3,711,278 364 92,677.10 105,606.00 591.2 
Alberta 4,985 1,361,194 273 48,993.30 52,696.10 4.9 
British 

Columbia 7,208 1,794,783 249 48,237.20 49,211.10 N/A 
Manitoba 1,419 689,145 486 15,684.30 14,493.30 N/A 

Nova Scotia 1,672 455,576 272 N/A 7,245.00 N/A 
Sask.  1,178 303,803 258 8,507.00 6,725.40 N/A 

Newfoundland 
& Labr. 795 125,016 157 2,432.50 4,096.70 N/A 

New 
Brunswick 490 80,262 164 N/A 3,284.80 N/A 

Prince Edward 
Island N/A N/A N/A N/A 479.5 0 

Yukon N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 
Nunavut 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A 

Northwest 
Territories N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 
 



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Limitations and Caveats of Quantitative Analysis 
Our notion of “successful” projects and metrics for success in this paper and any other 
crowdfunding study need to be taken with a grain of salt. Measuring success in crowdfunding 
is fraught with complications. A crowdfunding project is often just one component of an 
entrepreneurial effort, and success on a crowdfunding platform with metrics such as amount 
raised and number of backers does not guarantee that the broader effort is ultimately a 
successful one. In fact, some of the record-setting successes of Kickstarter, such as the Coolest 
Cooler are known to have run into financial difficulty after their crowdfunding campaign was 
over, with many backers still waiting to receive their promised rewards after multiple delays 
(Singleton 2016).  

Furthermore, the achievement of reaching your crowdfunding goal on Kickstarter is 
valuable, and results in receiving the funds pledged, but it is no guarantee that these funds are 
enough to cover the project’s actual needs. For example, the documentary film Within Every 
Woman directed by Tiffany Hsiung successfully surpassed its $50,000 goal on Kickstarter and 
raised $56,525 but still needed an additional $200,000 to finance production (Nordicity 2012). 
However, the success of the crowdfunding campaign provides valuable idea validation and 
proof-of-concept that enables the project creator to raise additional funding from other sources.  

Another important issue to consider about Kickstarter is that it sometimes abides by 
different rules for different countries. The only such rule we found that was potentially relevant 
to this study was that according to the Kickstarter website. the maximum reward value for US-
based projects is $10,000 USD but for Canadian projects it is $13,000 CAD. With the exchange 
rates at the time of writing, however, these two values are equivalent. In any case, theatre 
projects rarely ever set any single reward value at such high levels. The qualitative analysis below 
confirms some of the data limitations and caveats discussed here, and reveals additional ones. 

Exploratory Qualitative Analysis 
Table 2 presents the list of Canadian theatre projects on Kickstarter that we selected for 
qualitative review. Most of them are summarized in more detail in the appendix. The most 
amount of money raised by a Canadian theatre project in our data is $31,975 CAD which was 
raised by the project titled Save The Stardust Drive-in Theatre located in Morden, Manitoba, but 
the typical project among those we reviewed raised somewhere in the $2,000-$5,000 range. 
While befitting the sub-category of spaces, the Stardust Theatre project does not specify a sub-
category for itself and is thus listed in the general sub-category. This is in fact a widespread 
practice where projects don’t necessarily correctly self-label their sub-categories or could be 
categorized in multiple sub-categories. Another example is Harvest, which refers to itself 
explicitly as a “festival” in the descriptions, does not self-categorize under the festival sub-
category, while Moment of Silence explicitly describes itself as a play while self-categorizing 
under festivals. 

Projects are not necessarily originally from their self-described location in Canada. They 
may be originating from another location but raising funds for a Canadian performance. For 



ARTIVATE 9.1 

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example, Moment of Silence is a play originating in Iran. Furthermore, some projects are multi-
locational in nature, thus labeling them with a single location is less meaningful. For example, 
ROOMIES is a project aiming for an Atlantic Canada tour and involves artists from three 
different provinces in that region. 

Many projects set a target goal that only partially covers the costs of their broader initiative. 
For example, the Stardust Drive-in Theatre needed more than $90,000 to switch to a digital 
projector technology to survive and targeted only one third of that amount to raise on 
Kickstarter. As another example, in the Ontario Street Theatre in Port Hope project, the manager 
of Storefront Theatre conducted multiple fundraising events outside of Kickstarter during his 
campaign and posted information about them as updates on Kickstarter. 

Some projects are created by well-established theatrical institutions of their community for 
the purposes of growth rather than survival. For example, the only successful project in 
Newfoundland and Labrador was created by the Perchance Theatre, a well-known summer 
theatre in the province as a growth initiative on the occasion of their 5th anniversary. Other 
projects are created by smaller players and sometimes out of desperation for survival. Blackfly 
Summer Theatre, the entity behind the You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown project aimed to raise 
part of the money they needed to purchase the rights for the Charlie Brown production on 
Kickstarter. The initiative was out of desperation due to declining audience numbers. Although 
they have been in business for ten years, and despite the success of their crowdfunding 
campaign, the Blackfly Summer Theatre is currently seeking help due to financial trouble. 

Other specific cases help to highlight the range of motivations driving these theatre 
projects. Dennis Maione, the creator of the Three Things: Stories About Life project targeted 
$2,500 to produce a play for the Fringe Festival and give at least one performance. Although the 
project raised the money it targeted, it did not make it into the Fringe Festival but found other 
venues and performed the play multiple times. Meagan O’Shea, one of Canada’s renowned 
artistic directors and the creator of the We Don’t Need Another Hero project in Toronto was 
very blunt on her campaign page about the reasons she turned to crowdfunding: “Here's the 
thing, we got some grants, enough to decide to make the project go, commit to everything, and 
then we didn't get some grants.” 

The type of rewards offered by the reviewed theatre projects confirm that philanthropy and 
donation-type rewards play an important role, but many productions do pre-sell tickets as 
rewards. Acknowledgement of funders is also viewed as important. For example, Elodie Dorsel, 
the creator of the Spaces workshop project promised to send “personalized love letters” from 
the team for pledges of $30 or higher. In general, the overall scale and nature of projects indicate 
mostly requests for subsistence-level funding on Kickstarter, which could be construed as 
somewhat in line with the traditional hesitation to fully embrace profit-making in arts 
entrepreneurship, but may also be due to the local nature and limited ticketing capacity of 
theatre projects, and what they perceive to be feasibly achievable goals on Kickstarter. 

We found that while some of the Canadian theatre projects we identified as significant had 
not received media attention, most had. They were often positively reviewed or talked about in 
local media and newspapers, and sometimes even received national media coverage. For 
example, the creators of ROOMIES and Save The Stardust Drive-in Theatre were interviewed by 



ARTIVATE 9.1 

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the CBC. Some crowdfunders like Carisa Hendrix, an award-winning magician, stunt woman, 
performer and creator of the Temporala project which raised the most amount of money among 
Albertan theatre projects, have posted complete videos of their production publicly and freely 
accessible on the internet, but most of the projects we reviewed were not available for digital 
viewing. 

Conclusion and Implications 
To our knowledge, the present paper represents one of the first ever studies of theatre 
crowdfunding in Canada. It follows a recently burgeoning literature on crowdfunding (Short, 
Ketchen, McKenny, Allison, & Ireland 2017), which includes only one other study of theatre 
crowdfunding by Boeuf et al. (2014) that focused on successful US Kickstarter projects. In 
addition, our study is an early contributor to a broader literature on the impact of digital 
technology on arts entrepreneurship.  

Nevertheless, our analysis has been exploratory in nature, limited to the Kickstarter 
platform, limited to a narrow scope of variables, and most from our perspective as researchers 
who were “outsiders” to the theatre industry. Much work remains to be done in order to better 
understand the phenomenon of crowdfunding in the theatre context, both in Canada and other 
countries. To do so, platforms other than Kickstarter need to be analyzed, with larger variable 
sets, and hopefully with the engagement of scholars and practitioners, who have greater insider 
knowledge of the theatre industry and its particularities. Furthermore, much work remains to 
be done to better understand how crowdfunding platforms and other digital technologies 
change the nature of artmaking, audience engagement, and arts entrepreneurship more 
generally. 

Among the significant projects we reviewed qualitatively, we noticed the involvement of 
some of Canada’s best theatrical, creative, and artistic talent, and we noticed that the typical 
amount of money raised by these projects is at a relatively small scale. Although their 
crowdfunding campaigns are often only supporting part of their budgetary needs, these 
campaigns are nevertheless spurring theatrical activity and keeping otherwise financially 
challenged projects and theatres alive. We hope that, in the future, new financial innovations 
will both improve existing types of crowdfunding, create new models, and maybe even create 
innovative alternatives to crowdfunding that can better support the theatre community as well 
as the broader performing arts and creative media industries. Finally, we hope that efforts to 
design and develop courses and educational material on arts management and arts 
entrepreneurship can begin to include material specific to crowdfunding in order to open up 
horizons in the minds of future creative artists in terms of not just alternative financing options, 
but more broadly, the digital support tools of arts entrepreneurship. 



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Appendix: Synopsis of  Successful Canadian Theatre Crowdfunding Campaigns on 
Kickstarter 

In this appendix we provide summary descriptions of 25 successful Canadian theatre 
crowdfunding campaigns on the Kickstarter platform. These descriptions are meant to illustrate 
the variety, nature and scale of the kinds of theatre projects that have been able to succeed in 
crowdfunding. In addition to describing the projects themselves, we have made an effort to track 
the projects and provide additional information on their status or media coverage after their 
crowdfunding campaign.  

Perchance Theatre 

Perchance Theatre is an outdoor performance space. It produces and presents classical theatre 
each summer in Cupids, Newfoundland and Labrador. It was inspired by Shakespeare’s famous 
Globe Theatre in London, England. The theatre is led by the Director Danielle Ivrine and it 
features some of the province’s best stage actors. They’re working to establish the Conception 
bay as a cultural and tourism destination. On their fifth year, they realized they’ve reached a 
pivotal stage of growth. They headed towards crowdfunding so that they can continue to 
produce and present excellent theatre and provide opportunities for people to enjoy the stage. 
They aimed to raise CA$ 10,000 as a birthday gift on their 5th anniversary. They were offering 
show tickets for pledgers of CA$ 100 or more. They’ve reached their goal and they’ve issued Tax 
receipts to the contributors. 

Perchance is a well-known summer theatre in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was 
formerly known as New World Theatre Project when it was launched in 2010. They get good 
local exposure every summer when their performance season starts. The Telegram wrote a 
couple of pieces about them. One of them was to talk about the project’s goals. Another piece 
was published about Danielle Ivrine, the director of the theatre highlighting how a local lawyer 
turned out to establish a locally recognized theatre. 

Spaces 

Spaces is an experimental workshop/theatre performance in Toronto that aims to explore 
space/proximity, privacy openness in human relationships. Throughout the 1-hour 
show/workshop, twenty audience members will take part in an experiment. “I want them to 
experience first-hand what makes them uncomfortable, what doesn’t and have them wonder 
why that is the case.” Explains Elodie Dorsel, the Creator of the workshop. The workshop is a 
bilingual event in both French and English and accessible for deaf audience as well. This was a 
very small experimental project with minimal exposure. The fundraising target was CA$ 200 
and the founder raised CA$ 610. She even displayed a breakdown of the project’s spending. She 
promised to send “Personalized love letters” from the team for pledgers of CA$ 30 or higher. 



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The Watershed Staging Workshop 

Porte Parole is a documentary theatre company in Montreal. It creates verbatim plays that 
explores human dynamics within contemporary political and social Canadian conflicts. Its 
project The Watershed is a play about an artist, a family, and a country struggling to chart a 
sustainable course between two seemingly irreconcilable goals: steady economic growth and 
sound environmental stewardship. The play’s script is based on interview footage in quest to 
understand the federal government’s economics and environmental policies. The Watershed is 
about the future of fresh water. Their target was to raise CA$ 20,000 for a production workshop 
to test the dramatic quality of the play and explore staging possibilities. The project was backed 
with CA$ 21,712. 

The play was premiered in July 2015 and had a lot of exposure. It was premiered during 
the Panamania Arts and Cultural Festival in Toronto. The Montreal Gazette wrote a piece about 
the play and said, "Great journalism, and even better theatre." NowToronto wrote good a review 
about the show and described as “Must-see.” The play was appraised for its goal of raising 
awareness about the future of water. 

Give Guelph a Permanent Home for Comedy and Improv 

This project was launched by “The Making Box”, Guelph’s hub for live comedy since 2013 to 
build a fully accessible comedy theatre and improv training center. They presented this an 
opportunity for professional prosperity and city-wide community elevation. They wanted to 
locate their theatre at the heart of downtown Guelph. It would be a theatre for weekly comedy 
shows and improv classes. They had a target of CA$ 20,000 that would go towards constructing, 
insuring, soundproofing and buying furniture for the location. After they reached their goal by 
raising CA$ 24,355, the project ran into a problem with the city’s regulations that stopped them 
from building over their chosen location. The Guelph Mercury wrote about this Municipal 
Board dispute in 2016.  

The project later established itself in a different location in the city of Guelph, and some 
years later opened a second location in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. In 2016, they were 
nominated for both Innovation Guelph’s Start-up of the year and the Guelph Chamber of 
Commerce Community Spirit Award. They’ve partnered with Innovation Guelph to provide 
business improv classes. They continue to host live comedy shows and improv classes in both 
of their locations. 

The Orbweaver, from Mexico to the Vancouver Fringe Festival 

The Orbweaver is a play written by emerging Mexican playwright Paula Zelaya Cervantes, and 
the goal of this campaign is to bring the show to the 2016 Vancouver Fringe Festival for its world 
premiere. The Orbweaver is an example of a new, innovative Latin American theatrical style 
that combines story theatre and unusual narrative modes with conventional theatrical dialogue. 
It’s a one-of-a-kind, intercultural mixture between Canadian and Latin American theatrical 
narration styles. Their target was to raise CA$ 2,000 that would get their cast to Vancouver from 



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Mexico city. They also needed to fund the production costs like costumes, props…etc. They’ve 
raised exactly CA 2,000 dollars and they were offering tickets to pledgers of CA$ 80 or more. 

The play was premiered at the Vancouver Fringe in September 2016 and it was a great 
success. It won the Georgia Straight's Critic's Choice Award along with the volunteers’ choice 
prize. They were interviewed by Vancouver Presents. Collin Thomas, a Vancouver base award-
winning theatre critic wrote an article on them saying “The Orbweaver is so good that having 
seen it makes me feel better about being alive. Seriously. It’s fantastic.” 

Temporala - Help get this Sci-Fi Magic Show on the Road! 

Temporala is a sci-fi magic show that includes fire, dance, circus and magic. It was created by 
Carisa Hendrix, an award-winning performance who makes interesting shows inspired by 
history and science fiction. They planned to perform a show in Las Vegas, and their investors 
pulled out one month before their show. They had to turn to crowdfunding. Her target was to 
raise CA$ 6,000 in 21 days so fly her show to Las Vegas, and she succeeded by raising CA$ 7,350. 
She also offered tickets for backers who contributed CA$ 250 or more. Along the way, she failed 
to deliver the rewards and her backers were angry. Later, she apologized saying there was issue 
with the distribution company and that the items were shipped. The show in Vegas was a success 
and she has posted a video of the show on her YouTube channel. Carisa is a well-known 
magician/stunt girl who have won several awards. She also holds a Guinness world record for 
the longest fire torch in teeth. 

You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown 

Blackfly Summer Theatre has been producing two live theatrical shows for the past ten years in 
the small town of Bancroft, Ontario. Due to a steady decline in in their audience, they’ve decided 
to produce the popular musical You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown. After negotiations with the 
company holding the rights to the show, they were quoted CA$ 7,765. They’ve turned to 
crowdfunding along with their season sponsor to cover that fee. Their target was to raise CA$ 
4000 from a small town. They’ve offered seats to their shows for the backers. Bancroft Summer 
Theatre has been in business for the past 10 years. They’ve been suffering from losses and 
business problems in the past couple of years and they’re seeking for help according to their 
Facebook page. 

Giant Co. - Honesty Rents by the Hour - Montreal Fringe 

Honesty Rents by the Hour is a play by Michael Milech in Quebec. The play was a finalist in 
Infinitheatre's 2015 “Write-On-Q!” competition and received a warm reception at a staged 
reading as a part of the company’s Pipeline series. Their target was CA$ 750 to cover costumes, 
visual elements, and props. They were able to raise CAD 1,265. They were offering tickets for 
backers who pledged CA$ 50 or more. The play had a story about them on Entertainment City 
after its success in Montreal Fringe. Also, Matt Jacobs, the Director of Giant productions, did 
an interview about the play. 



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Stray Dog Theatre Company into the West Theatre Fest 

The StrayDog Theatre Company is making a trip out to the west coast of Canada to participate 
in the Into the West Theatre Festival happening on Bowen Island. The company is there to 
headline the inaugural season of the Into the West Theatre Festival which helps support local 
theatre in the community including the Tir-na-nog theatre school. The school has, for the past 
twenty-three years, been a space wherein young people can practice the art of theatre. Over the 
past few years the school has been struggling with financial instability due to cuts in government 
and local funding. They wanted to produce shows during the summer so that people will be 
interested in the school and also help them pay of-season rent. Their target was to raise CA$ 
6,000 and they’ve successfully raised CA$ 6,695. The project did not get any media exposure. 
However, Tir-na-nog Theatre school is still operating as of 2017. 

Les Concubines 

Les Concubines is a show-performance created by women that talks about the woman’s face. 
The show includes five actresses to perform some of Quebec’s most classic songs mixed with 
words on their anxiety, pleasure and anger. The campaign targets to raise CA$ 1,000 and it 
succeeds to reach that target. This, along with over sources of funding was intended to give a 
fair and just salary to creators and artists on the show. 

Three Things: Stories About Life 

This is a play by Dennis Maione, a cancer survivor who have published the book What I Learned 
from Cancer. The play is designed for Fringe festival but suitable for any performance venue. 
The Kickstarter campaign would help him produce the play and give at least one performance. 
The campaign was aimed to raise CA$ 2,500 and he reached that target. The film did not make 
it to the Fringe Festival. However, he didn’t give up and found a venue with the money he raised. 
He had five show runs and he have moved on to new projects. 

We Don't Need Another Hero 

Hero is an interdisciplinary performance that looks at how people interact with the world as 
individuals, in couples, and in community. The show includes dance duets, solo dance-theatre 
with audience participation and a bilingual translation. The project had some grants but then 
they didn’t receive them after committing to everything. This made them turn to crowdfunding. 
They needed to raise CA$ 12,000 to put a good show. They were successful. The director of the 
show is a recognized across Canada. Her work has been presented across Canada. She has 
received over 30 grants for her work. The Montreal Gazette said about her “Off the wall, 
impossible to categorize, fun.” The Toronto Star said “Whacky, whimsical and wonderful.” 



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ROOMIES - Atlantic Canada Tour - 

ROOMIES is a collective work involving artists from NB, NL, and NS. The playwright and actor 
lives with a disability and is from Newfoundland. They want to go on a tour that encompasses 
locations in the provinces of NB, NS, NL, and PEI. ROOMIES delivers its message in a sitcom-
style comedy along with more serious insightful scenes about disability, identity, respect, 
acceptance and the importance of others in our lives. As this is a non-profit project, they still 
need to pay for performance spaces, accommodations, technicians and transportations. The 
campaign aimed to raise CA$2,000 and they have been able to raise CA$ 2,512. The company 
offers tickets for backers who pledged CA$ 20 or more. 

Their show was a great success due to its message about understanding disabilities. They 
had an interview with CBC regarding the show. They also had an interview with Rogers TV. 
The play won the prize for outstanding dramatic script from the Nova Scotia Federation of 
Writers in the early 2000s, an achievement the writer of the play, David Power holds dear. "What 
really makes it worthwhile is that people who come to the play and have a disability and have 
never seen their story told in a way on stage,” he said. 

Welcome Back to Harlem: A Hellfighter's Story 

This is a musical play about a Harlem Hellfighter (an African American WWI soldier) struggles 
to re-integrate into his community after heroically fighting for his country. Set against the 
backdrop of the dynamic Harlem Renaissance art scene. The show represents the rebirth of 
black identity in America. The cast of 20 actors had a target of CA$ 5,000 to bring this play to 
light. They were able to raise CA$ 7,500. They’ve considered themselves not as just a show, but 
as a movement to keep the history of African-Americans alive. The play was premiered in June 
2014 according to their Facebook event. People liked the play and it has received great reviews.  
Tito Kamel, a writer who worked on the show, had an interview on the YouTube show “Om da 
Grine TV” where he talked about the motives of creating the play. 

Harvest 

The Harvest Festival was conceived by Vancouver-based performer/producer Georgia Johnson 
as a way to bring together local and international performance artists while highlighting the 
natural beauty that Mayne Island's landscapes offers. It’s a two-day performance festival 
involving local and international artists. the fundraising goal for this project is CA$ 5,000, which 
will pay for the flights and ferry rides of collaborators making their way to Mayne Island from 
overseas. The project was a success, but we could not locate any media exposure for this project. 

Save The Stardust Drive-in Theatre 

The Stardust Drive-In Theatre is a family owned and operated drive-in theatre located in 
Southern Manitoba. The theatre goes back to the early 1960’s and is well known in Southern 
Manitoba. The movie industry pashed out 35 mm films in exchange to digital technology. The 
theatre needs to upgrade to a digital projector. Their quote was CAD 93,500. They’ve managed 



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a part of the money and they need CA$ 30,000 to completely fund the Digital projector. They 
were able to raise CA$ 31,975. 

The campaign was a success and they’ve received a lot of media Exposure. My Toba website 
wrote an article on their success for raising the money. CBC had an interview with the theatre’s 
owners and wrote a news article about them. Winnipeg Free Press had an interesting title that 
said “One of Manitoba's last drive-in theatres makes a final stand”. Most of the articles talked 
about how the community came together to support a local place with such a significant history. 

Uncalled For Presents: Playday Mayday in Toronto! 

Uncalled For internationally renowned sketch comedy troupe who wants to bring a full-length 
show to Toronto. Their goal as a company is to bridge the gap between sketch comedy and 
traditional theatre. They want to a two-week run show called “Playday Mayday”. They’re raising 
money so they can cover rental cost of the theatre for the two-week run, a proper marketing 
campaign to sell their tickers and compensate the actors and technicians. Their target was to 
raise CA$ 10,000 and they succeeded and raised CA$ 10,338. The show was premiered on 
November 2016 according to their Facebook event. They have really good reviews on the event 
page. The star wrote a good article about how the events unfold in the play. There was a review 
on the theater reader that said "Uncalled For's Playday Mayday is Funny as Hell!" All reviews 
they have received were positive. 

Seabird is Going to New York! 

Babelle Theatre’s SEABIRD IS IN A HAPPY PLACE, has been selected as a finalist for the Samuel 
French 40th Annual Off-Broadway Playwriting Competition in New York. Seabird is a story of 
a young women who dies and comes back to life under the condition that she must die again 
when it stops raining. The play will run four days in Vancouver before flying to New York. Their 
target was to raise CA$ 2,000 and they succeeded in raising CA$ 2,166. All the funds will go to 
support the Playwright James Gordon, the Director Marie Farsi and the actress Emilie Leclerc 
on their journey to New York. An article was written about the play’s story on Vancity Buzz. 
The show was later curated in a play reading series. 

A Moment of Silence 

This is a play that charts the recent history of Iran. It’s about an Iranian woman who falls asleep 
in war missing almost every modern political event. This play is an award-winning play by 
celebrated Iranian playwright and director, Mohammad Yaghoubi. It won Toronto Fringe 
Festival’s 2015 New Play contest. It also won the Playwrights’ society of Iran’s best play prize. It 
has been translated into English, French, Czech, Turkish and Kurdish and performed in 
Washington and California, Brussels, by Théâtre de Poche in 2014 and in Prague in January 
2016. The goal was to raise CA$ 4,000 and they succeeded and raised the exact amount. 

The play was premiered in Toronto in August 2016.  It had great reviews. The theatre times 
wrote “Despite being deeply contextualized in Iranian contemporary culture and politics, a good 



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dramaturgy made A Moment of Silence relatable for Canadian audience while highlighting its 
universal themes and aesthetics”. Nowadays theatre also spoke great of the play. It quoted 
Michaela Prikopova saying “an unexpected contemporary play from a culture we do not meet 
every day, A Moment of Silence…charts the recent history of the country of which we hear plenty 
on the news but about which we do not know that much.” 

Ontario Street Theatre in Port Hope. 

Storefront Theatre is an affordable 40 seat venue for the public. Sean Carthew, who runs the 
venue now wants to raise money to renovate the theatre. It will cost him around CA$ 8,000. 
One remarkable thing is that Sean advertised other fundraising events through his campaign’s 
updates. He also had local businesses supporting him. He was able to raise all the funds in 
addition he was able to get more exposure on his offline fundraising efforts. He had media 
exposure from Snapd who did an article on his Kickstarter campaign. They were helping him 
with reaching more people. Northumberland Today did an interview with him about his 
campaign and plans for renovation. 

Family in Church, a new play by Pascale Roger-McKeever 

It is a play was made by the Belfry/Ça cloche dans ma caboche, a newly formed bilingual theatre 
company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The company received a grant covering partial costs 
and is now working to raise the remainder. Family In Church is a brutally honest tragic-comedy 
play exploring family dynamics when faced with the death of one of their daughter’s best friend. 
Equally self-centered, needy and desperate for attention, all four characters fight for recognition 
and love. The campaign’s target was to raise CA$ 5,000 and they successfully raised CA$ 5,260. 
The play was premiered in November 2011 with back-to-back openings in English and French. 
No media exposure was found for this show. 

Dog Sees God - Calgary Production 

Dog Sees God: Confessions of A Teenage Blockhead, is a play where the audience joins Charlie 
Brown and a gang in their cartoon world, navigating high school where they have become the 
classic angst-ridden teenagers of the modern world. This is a fresh take on the off-Broadway hit, 
performed by artists from Calgary. While satiric in nature, the play also paints a darker picture 
of the adolescent life, with themes of sexuality, bullying, suicide, and acceptance. This 
campaign’s goal was to raise CA$ 1,000 and they succeeded in raising CA$ 1,625. 

A Taste of Broadway 

A taste of Broadway is a delectable musical revue that offers the history of Broadway with nine 
decades of songs, served up in story, dance, images and song, performed by a team who call 
themselves the Perfectly Imperfect. Perfectly Imperfect is a team of nineteen seniors who like 
musicals and plays. The team wants to deliver a message that aging population is not necessarily 



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a burden on the healthcare system, but they can contribute to the community as well. The 
campaign’s target was to raise CA$ 4,500 and they were successful. They’ve even provided a 
breakdown for their costs on their campaign page. The team had their show in June 2016 
according to yyc seniors’ website. 

Two Monkeys Productions Presents Edges 

In January 2015, Sharon started Two Monkeys Productions to give herself and others more 
opportunities to hone their crafts. They produce shows with small casts (between two and ten 
performers), giving each player a chance to shine and be noticed. They were working on their 
first show called Edges. Edges is a contemporary song-cycle about four burgeoning adults asking 
classic coming-of-age questions as they explore what happens when they’re teetering on the 
edges of their lives. Their goal was to raise CA$ 1,000 and they’ve raised CA$ 2,005 which is 
double their target! According to their website, the show went on for two previews and nine 
runs. North Shore News did a piece on them. They’ve talked about their company and how they 
came up with the idea and their first show Edges. They had another piece about them on out 
TV. 

Like This Post (The Post at ) 

The Post at 750 is the home of the 110 Arts Cooperative, one of a handful of arts co-operatives 
that exist in all of Canada and is comprised of four different art organizations: DOXA 
Documentary Film Festival, Music on Main, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, and 
Touchstone Theatre. This represents a broad spectrum of artistic disciplines including theatre, 
music, and media arts. Their goal is to create a space where artists can go and get inspired, work, 
plan and network. They’re raising money to fill the studios, community and activities spaces. 
Their vision of the 110 Arts Cooperative is to create a home for the City’s broad artistic 
community. Their target was to raise CA$ 15,000 and they’ve successfully raised CA$ 16,501. 
The institution has had great success and media coverage. Straight.com did an article covering 
their grand opening. They said “Having a place that’s sort of thoughtfully prepared that is 
thinking: what can this do for the arts for the next 30 years, in downtown Vancouver—it’s a real 
thrill.” Touchstone theatre website did an announcement that they’ve moved their operations 
to that space. 

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