Concept & Copywriting
How do you raise $12.5 million to renovate two of Charleston's historic theaters?
Humanize the buildings.
Memminger Auditorium is condemned. For its last performance of Don Giovanni, the audience sat in duct tape-patched seats while the fire department waited cautiously outside. The Dock Street Theatre, considered the country's oldest theater, is quaint but cramped. A sign above the orchestra pit reads 'Duck or Bleed.'
Spoleto Festival USA, in its quest to renovate these two buildings, asked us to find a compelling theme and text for a 20-page campaign booklet. The challenge was compounded by a climate of philanthropy where donors prefer to give to programming instead of capital campaigns.
Our campaign name, Inspiring Community Voices, aimed at connecting with Charleston's living history. It sounded the call that restoring these theaters would directly revitalize the voices of the community. As a demonstration, we included a number of in-their-own-words profiles of individual stakeholders, from children to seniors. Bricks and mortar coming alive.
The resulting booklet included profiles, features on the theaters, and meditations on the importance of live theater. Each radiated from the central argument justifying the need for renovation. And each, like a refrain that deepens with each hearing, reiterated what is truly at stake. A humanized perspective.
Print this page