When the Long Company mummers started some years ago, it took several years to build up the play to be the popular event it is now.

Long Company web site


It was slightly different for us as the play is an outdoor one and we were trying at first to gather people to the play site from wherever they were including enticing them from a warm pub to a cold yard. The first year saw audiences of 'a man and his dog'. You have to go where people are, and you have to work hard to convince people that the whole thing is 'something for them'.


It sounds as though you are planning to invade pubs that have a ready audience in situ and that's probably a better starting point. I would say that advance warning is not a great idea and that a 'guerilla' raid is a good strategy, even in the style of a 'flash mob', something which people relate to because they've seen it on YouTube. It's possible that people will see the posters and think that they'll go to the pub later to avoid all the fuss as this folk stuff is not really for them. There again, there might be a lot of people with natural curiosity around where you live. It's difficult to gauge.

Our play is after New Year (2nd/3rd/5th/6th) so all the Christmas and New Year fuss is over and people haven't necessarily got a lot to do so they come and see the play. You're hitting town just when they're up their ears in shopping and office parties etc. etc. and probably wouldn't choose to disrupt their routine to see the play but will be sufficiently in the Christmas spirit to engage with it when it parachutes in. Poster probably won't make a difference either way. Might be worth leafleting the local folk clubs though.

With regard to printed material, you don't need to use images of your own play. Just go to Google and search for 'mummers play', clicking in images rather than web, and you'll get lots of historical images you can nick and adapt.