First Step into a Performance Space
Posted by Michael Van Ness on 6/17/2009
This is the first week of my Literary internship at Steppenwolf, and besides spending a lot of time bonding with the photocopier (“Me, Alpha! You, Beta!”), one of my new responsibilities is to manage the theatre’s script library. Walking by the stacks of produced plays, it’s hard not to feel a bit intimidated. The names on the black binders read like a who’s who of theatre royalty. The first time I strolled by the production copy of Glengarry Glen Ross I nearly froze in terror. Some paranoid part of my brain was convinced that I would trip, fall, and somehow manage to shred it. I’m hoping by week’s end I’ll have mustered the courage to open it.
My (thankfully) waning case of The Willies got me thinking about another sort of theatre intimidation. Across the country, a lot of people, from all sorts of backgrounds, seem hesitant to embrace their local theatres. For some, the very thought of sitting before a proscenium seems daunting. Other, more regular patrons are sometimes hesitant to venture out of their comfort zones, shying away from “difficult” plays or more experimental productions.
So I’m wondering… Are theatres, big and small, somehow contributing to people’s hesitancy to see plays? Are there things that theatres could be doing to make the experience more inviting to their communities?
Plays can amuse, challenge, and transfix their audiences. At its best, a trip to a theatre can be a transformational experience. But that process of exploration and discovery can only begin once someone agrees to take that first step into a performance space. Is there a way for the theatre community to open their doors a bit wider?
June 18th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I think this is an excellent question. There are many times that I can count on my fingers and toes(and various other appendages) that I felt unwelcome in a theater. The vibe being “Here is our play. Pay for it. See it. NOW LEAVE!!!” As for suggestions, I think the theater itself needs to consider how open does it want its doors. What about acting/writing/directing/producing/lighting workshops for the community(even if they are one day workshops)? The great thing about theater in Chicago is that it is created by some of the best of the best and yet how often does the community actually get to learn from(or at least meet) one of these professionals?
June 18th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Your question - Are theatres contributing to people’s hesitancy to see plays? - has different answers for different groups.
If you’re trying to attract the “un-theatre-d” - people with little or no prior experience of attending live theatre - then, yes, I’d say even the idea of entering a theatre is intimidating. It seems not only new but potentially strange and very possibly weird - and causes many kinds of self-consciousness. How should I dress, behave, talk, etc? The best “cure” for this is for people to get to know writers, designers, directors, actors, managers outside the theater on their own turf. People will come to a relaxed, fun social occasion - which theater can be - when they’re personally invited.
To provide this opportunity - I think the League of Chicago Theaters should sponsor traveling “Show Malls”. Every month 3-4 90-minute revues of excerpts from 5-6 Chicago shows would travel to malls, town squares, neighborhood centers all over Chicago, the collar counties and NW Indiana. Each month the bill would change so every theater company could get some of the “face-to-face” time with the “un-theatre-d” The revues would be traveling live “ads” for current and upcoming shows and the audiences - feeling comfortable on the their own turf - would have a chance to talk to the performers, who could extend personal invitations and “two-fers” to come and see the show.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:51 am
More plays by and about women and minorities would be extremely appealing in a diverse place like Chicago. People are not necessarily intimidated by theater, they are bored because they are seeing the same thing, from the same POV that they always see and it does not speak to them. Why are they going to shell out $30 - $100 dollars and up to be bored and ignored.
June 19th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
good question - I think this trepidation comes from not quite knowing what you’re getting. When you go to a movie, you’ve usually seen a preview or a commercial prior to entering the cinema. You have a general sense of what you are about to get. With theatre most often all you’ve seen is a poster, perhaps an advertisement, or you are going off a friend’s recommendation. I’ve noticed a lot of theatres have begun creating their own previews: little commercials for their upcoming productions. If we market theatre like film, maybe plays will outsell movies? Wishful thinking!
June 20th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Coming from the Midwest, where the predominant genre is Musical Theatre, I applaud our local artistic directors for taking steps in the same direction you’ve proposed in this wonderful entry. For example, our local professional company is making use of both its theatre complex and its college student-led ensemble by considering the opportunity to produce additional shows on a smaller scale. Not every subscriber is going to jump at the chance to see oft-produced musicals from the early 20th century (i.e. “Camelot,” “Kiss Me, Kate”) and, conversely, cannot afford a trip to Broadway or even Chicago to, say, the Porchlight, Goodman, or Marriott. I would love to see a mix of new shows and old, with innovative concepts and creative casting. By using the smaller space in the same building, I think, the same actors and design teams can not only produce shows that Midwesterners may never have the chance to see (”Light in the Piazza,” “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “Company”), they can allow the student actors-in-training to stretch themselves with particularly new roles, opportunities, and challenges in a professionally-led production environment. I also think, since these shows use small casts and/or minimal sets, the solution is cost-efficient and artistically satisfying.