Back in 2021 when I was working on a whole lot of funding applications, I tallied up the numbers of people who UpStage had reached since its launch in 2004 and estimated that over 10,000 people had had direct experience of UpStage. This included those participating in performances and events, attending presentations or workshops, and accessing documentation and publications.

Now it’s 2025 and once again I’m sharpening my funding application pencils, so it’s time to revisit the numbers. The last five years have seen a lot of activity, with the Mobilise/Demobilise project, our Te Urungi feasibility study, Meta Theater’s #digital project and Queen Margaret University integrating UpStage into their performance studies course, as well as numerous other performances, workshops and presentations.

Numbers are naturally difficult to be precise about in the online world – for example, the UpStage audience counter shows numbers of connected computers rather than individual audience members, and we know that often people watch together, and performances can be projected for a gathered audience. We don’t know how many are watching each connection, so we have to estimate as best we can from the information we have. It’s particularly tricky for the Mobilise/Demobilise project, as we had multiple performances over four years, with many hybrid online/offline events, street performances and exhibitions – a huge reach that’s only possible to estimate. Based on a careful assessment of all of the events, I believe that in the last four years more than 65,000 people will have had some direct experience of UpStage.