Theatre503

In early 2017 Theatre503, who were already long-time print and brand clients of ours, approached us about redesigning and building a new website. Their old one, built in 2009, was long out of date; it wasn’t responsive, didn’t allow easy management of events and shows, and its user experience took very little advantage of recent developments in techniques, technologies and research.

Crucible were keen with this project to draw 503’s already vibrant and distinctive print brand (previously developed by Crucible in 2014) across its website in a way that reinforced it at every turn. The ‘angles’ used were therefore designed to match those on 503’s brochure and print material, and its colourscheme is fully editable on a single click, to be able to match the collateral of whichever show is being promoted at the present moment.

Technical Integration

The entire site was also fully integrated with the Spektrix box office plugin, which handles ticket bookings, mailing lists and market research on behalf of the theatre.

Crucible also developed a bespoke script submission portal to assist 503 with receiving 2,000 scripts per year.

All of these have to be sent out to readers, reviewed, rated, categorised, responded to, and archived – or, for the lucky few, taken forwards to be made into a production.

Within weeks, the site revolutionised how audience members interacted with the theatre, with 503 reporting far fewer phonecalls and emails due to enhanced navigability on the site.