In 2018 the research group of the Erasmus+ Project “Entrepreneurial Challenges in Theatre Higher Education Curricula” made interviews with performing arts students in different schools in Europe, asking questions: what does it mean for a student to be an artist, how students imagine their ideal profession and what does the word “entrepreneurship” mean to them. The responses collected from students of Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre show that for performing arts students to be an artist in the first line means: a way to get to know themselves better, to share their thoughts with the public and to change it to the right direction, “... create and … go into a flowing stream”,“(...) to share (...) discoveries and pain with other people and help them to understand things and to talk about it”. The chosen profession also “gives a freedom to fight using artistic means - to express (...) views and beliefs” or “...to be a free person”. The ideal profession the students imagine as being an actor, “being independent” being “ a Hollywood star and to work with Hollywood directors” “(…) participating in the Avignon Festival showcase performance at Palais de Pape…” or even “... not necessarily being in the profession…”. Some students also mentioned importance of an economic drive of the chosen profession: it should “bring pleasure and (...) financial remuneration, because otherwise I will not survive” or “to have a group of people who think like me and with whom I can create what we want. In parallel to have profit making activities - conducting events, advertising for foreign markets”. Students also see different ways how to achieve their goals: “(...) through work and self-improvement only”, “trying to find a contact with course mates and getting together with them”, “(...) doing more than I can imagine” “going abroad for studies or just to going into the market (…)”, “creating a workplace for myself (…)”. 

Answering the question what does the word “entrepreneurship” mean two students indicated that “It is a modern form of management, looking for fast, mobile and user-friendly business solutions” or that “it goes in parallel with management, creation of new ideas and their implementation”, however the most common answers were “I never heard about this word”,“I do not know what it is” or “It is definitely not for me”. 

The fact that performing arts students do not know what entrepreneurship is should not wonder, because “entrepreneurship” is not one of the theatre terms or commonly use in the artistic field. Despite the fact that artists and entrepreneurs have a lot in common and often share the same personal qualities most of artists avoid any association with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, because it may negatively affect their public image or undermine the artistic value of their creations. The researchers are also unanimous on how the “entrepreneurship” in the arts shall be defined. Many definitions focus on new venture development or self-management. Scherdin and Zander (2011) argue that in “the arts entrepreneurship is about 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,” other describe it as the discovery of new “means- ends relationships” (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000) as well as the creation of a new organization to implement a novel idea (Gartner, 1990). 

There are also in theory attempts to make the word “entrepreneurship” more attractive for the artists changing it into “Artrepreneurship” or “Musicpreneurship” etc., however if we try to translate these terms into one of other European languages it would sounds really silly. There is also a separation theory between social entrepreneurs and creative entrepreneurs, which are described as investors in talent – their own or other people’s, and often they do not identify themselves as entrepreneurs. When Vilnius University Business School 5 years ago created and for the first time offered to students of Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater an open elective module “Entrepreneurship and New Venture Development” (with 16 topics and 8 different lecturers) it was a total failure - none of students of the Academy has chosen it. This course was however very popular between students of design and architecture. Why? Because creating a product they have to think about the end user. Later Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre changed the title of the course and offered as its own elective subject to bachelor students of all study programs including Music Performance, Theater Arts etc. calling it “Career Development and Entrepreneurship”. After active “advertising campaign” of its content, lecturers and separate lectures as open lectures the problem was still the same - low participation of students - only 2 to 8 students participated in the lectures. Trying to find out why students are not choosing this subject the coordinator was making small interviews asking students if the content is relevant and why they are not coming to the lectures. The answers were almost the same: “topics are important and useful, but I am too busy” or “I have no time, I need to practice”. Was the word “entrepreneurship” in the title of module the main problem - probably not. After trying different formats Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre decided to integrate the module “Career Development and Entrepreneurship” into undergraduate courses “Professional Internship” making it a mandatory subject, however allowing students to choose the module in the second, third or fourth study year. 

Talking about entrepreneurship in the context of theatre higher education it is important not to focus on the word itself, but on the content - which skills and knowledge the students should acquire during their studies, necessary dealing with career development uncertainties, risks and aiming to help them making a living from their art. The risks related to career development are mainly related to reduction of public contributions to culture, growing number of temporary employment contracts, competitions in the cultural and creative industries and changing consumer habits. Theatre students very soon learn how to become a freelancer or self-employed, however often don’t know advantaged and disadvantages of being self-employed, what are other options and main risks. “The Magic Carpet” exercise we used several times in the Project meetings asks students to look at their careers from different perspectives drawing fringes of a carpet. This exercise allows students to generate new ideas and to see their career perspective from different angles - from acting in the biggest theatres to teaching activities, singing, creating own theater company. This exercise gives more interesting career projections if the carpet is drawn thinking about their career paths in a foreign environment. For example, asking students a question which career opportunities would have Lithuanian actors in France, Portugal etc. From these brainstorming sessions it is important to go one more step forward and help students finding an answers to what are their strengths and weaknesses choosing specific career path, but also thinking about external issues which may prevent such career or provide new opportunities. 

On the one hand the aging theatre audience may be considered as a threat for a career in theatre, however on the other taking into account increasing life expectancy and more active participation in the culture of older audiences it may be also considered as an opportunity. The main goal of an entrepreneurship courses for performing arts students should be to see the bigger picture of what is the audience and analyze it. The audience and its behavior changed a lot in the last 10 years. Culture and media sectors in the broadest sense now also include video games, electronic publishing and print industries (International Labor Organization, 2018). The recent analysis shows that average US adult will spend 3 hours, 43 minutes on mobile devices in 2019, just above the 3:35 spent on TV (eMarketer, 2019). The State of Online Gaming 2019 research report which is based on responses from 4,500 consumers in France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States age 18 and older who play video games at least once a week, shows that people who play video games spend an average of seven hours seven minutes each week playing. Playing time has increased 19.3 percent in the year 2018. Gamers 26 - 35 years old play for 8 hours 12 minutes per week. This increased more than 25 percent in the last year. 

People have unlimited wants, but have to face limited resources. Time is one of the scarcest resources we have. So how to attract young people to a theatre in the Information Age, when there is a plenty of choices of leisure activities? The facts we know about the theatre and its positive impact on person’s emotional, physical and social development are not sufficient or right arguments to pursue a youngster to choose theater performance instead of playing video games, watching series on VOD platforms or sharing information on social media. Innovative theatre marketing approach and innovative cultural education measures may however contribute to building long-term relationship with new audiences. According to Boorsma and Chiaravalloti (2009) the adoption of marketing principles in cultural institutions is the result of increased pressures on these organizations to be more accountable for their behavior, to become less dependent on public funding, to stimulate audience participation and to compete with the entertainment industry. However, do theaters, actors and theatre directors really know their audience and analyze their behavior which is influenced by different factors: cultural, social, personal, and psychological?