Writers Theatre

Redesign Built with Basker

Intro

Writers Theatre

When Writers Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois approached us in 2024 for a full site redesign with TNEW integration, we knew the project was the perfect fit for our newly-launched Basker platform. As a leading regional theatre known for producing high-quality plays and musicals in an intimate setting, they needed a website that matched their artistic vision and improved the audience experience. Basker is tailor-made for arts organizations, with customizable templates for events, artists, and other specific pages. We were able to build and launch a new site on Basker more efficiently than on any other CMS we’ve used.

The Challenge

Writers Theatre faced several key challenges with their existing digital presence:

  • Their existing site had not been updated for many years and was visually weighed down by their muted colour palette
  • Poor site navigation was frustrating to both patrons and staff
  • Their event calendar was cluttered on busy days and empty when the theatre was dark
  • Their seat map did not accurately represent the curved and diagonal rows of seats in their thrust stage configuration, confusing patrons 

All of this needed to be addressed on a tight timeline to support their upcoming 2025/26 season announcement.

Our Solution: Basker CMS

Basker offered exactly what Writers Theatre needed - a built-in Tessitura integration, simple administration, and a flexible theme engine. As a SaaS solution, it also meant they wouldn't need to worry about future CMS upgrades or maintenance.

Because Basker was created specifically for arts and culture organizations, it contains customizable templates for event pages, season pages, artists, and other sector-specific components out of the box. We were able to start with these templates and focus on Writers Theatre's unique needs throughout the project.

“Made Media, well-known for its premiere position as the leader in performing arts-focused web sites, created a colorful, adaptable and user-friendly platform for Writers Theatre. Their visit to our home in Chicago’s North Shore provided the insight needed to create a site that highlighted our unique award-winning theatre.”

What We Delivered

A Digital-First Design

Inspired by the theatre's stunning architecture with its floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing Chicagoland's natural beauty, our Head of Design, Stefan Grindley, created a new color palette revolving around seasonal color themes. Our design team also created a bold and geometric design that mirrored the space and updated their existing logo while maintaining its iconic shape. This refresh extends seamlessly into their TNEW ticketing platform, creating a cohesive user journey.

Reimagined Event Discovery

While our project was primarily focused on creating a new marketing site for Writers Theatre, they also asked us to think of ways to improve event discovery and the ticketing journey overall for their site.

To better support Writers Theatre’s performance schedule, we replaced TNEW’s grid calendar with an intuitive, filterable list format. Users can now see all events at a glance, with a gridded calendar widget allowing them to jump to specific dates. This dramatically improved the event discovery experience.

Tessitura data is used in conjunction with information from the Basker CMS to populate a custom events calendar.

Users can learn more about a production or buy tickets directly to a performance from the calendar.

Custom SeatCurve Integration

In order to help Writers’ patrons find the perfect seat in their uniquely-shaped venue we extended the project to integrate TNEW with our select-your-own seat application, SeatCurve. This solution:

  • Creates a custom seatmap that accurately represent their unique venue layout and architectural features
  • Integrates seamlessly with their TNEW ticketing platform
  • Provides full keyboard accessibility for assistive technology users
  • Could be implemented quickly to keep the project on schedule

Writers Theatre's thrust stage laid out in SeatCurve, our Select-Your-Own seat product.

What we did.

  • Strategic definition
  • User experience concept
  • Digital rebrand
  • CMS development
  • TNEW integration
  • SeatCurve implementation

Want to know more?

Related Reading

Case Study:

ACT and the Sydney Opera House

Case Study:

National Youth Theatre

Designing Futures: A Dynamic Makeover for a Leading Youth Arts Charity

Case Study:

Mystic Aquarium

Website Redesign