Some theatres have moved away from education and solely into community engagement. How are “education” and “community engagement” defined by each theatre? What are the similarities and differences between these two areas of focus? Is there collaboration across departments in this work? There has been growing attention to these issues in recent years, and we were interested in collecting some stories and exploring different models and approaches to this work.
Category: theatre
Commercial Theatre Is ‘Anti-Art, Anti-Theatre, Anti-Creativity, Anti-Audience,’ Says One Of London’s Top Commercial Producers
“… And so I like to think of myself as an independent producer as opposed to a commercial producer,” says Sonia Friedman, who was spoiled by her time working “in the subsidised sector” (at the National Theatre).
Chicago’s Storefront Theatre Revolution
For a New Yorker, the real surprise was to be found in the far-flung spaces — like the Den — that make up Chicago’s “storefront” theater movement. Especially in the northern part of the city, these theaters have colonized churches and renovated restaurants and turned showrooms into show rooms. Some house an audience of hundreds, some just a handful.
The Big Story On Broadway This Season Is That Plays Are Outshining Musicals
“It was just last season when theater lovers were wringing their collective hands as big brand musicals descended on Times Square … No more. In a turnabout no one on Broadway expected, this season is rich with drama — ambitious, challenging, risky work, most of it new and most of it American.” Says one producer, “It’s no accident that all these plays are happening now. It’s how artists react to what’s happening in the culture.”
New York City Will Pay To Make Small Theaters More Accessible To Visually- And Hearing-Impaired
“[The city government] will give grants to Off Broadway and other small theaters to install software that allows patrons to follow along with low-light smartphones and tablets. … The software, using voice recognition, can provide closed captioning of the spoken word, or audio description of stage action, on users’ mobile devices.”
When A Show Changes The Theatre It Plays In
“How often is it the case that a show made and performed in a theatre genuinely has an impact on the building and the way it operates?” Lyn Gardner remembers one very notable case, when the Battersea Arts Centre hosted Punchdrunk’s The Masque of the Red Death a decade ago. “If this happened more often, would the culture of the building change? … It’s a question that is particularly pertinent when considering work made by, and with, the community.”
This Theatre Runs A Name-Your-Own-Price Subscription Model, And It Works (So Far)
For its first five seasons, the Ubuntu Theater Project in Oakland sold tickets at $15 to $45 a seat, with some pay-what-you-wish seats available for low-income audience members at the door. “But all that wasn’t inclusive — or radical — enough for Ubuntu. So last summer, the theatre adopted a pay-as-you-can subscription model, guaranteeing tickets to its seven shows for a single amount named by the ticketholder.” Says marketing director Simone Finney, “This is what we’re about as a company, and if we were gonna fail, we should fail on things that are ideologically exciting.”
Is Twitter A Malign Influence On Theatre?
“The whole idea that you have a medium that is based on rapid response, and yet has lack of nuance built into its form, is very difficult, and is leading to a very binary culture, which I think makes it difficult to be truthful in art. I think that for a writer, you have to be constantly aware of how unbinary and complex every issue is, so the loss of nuance generally I think is quite dangerous.”
How Theatre Training Builds Better Doctors
If you think about it, the doctor- or surgeon-patient encounter is like improv, requiring two characters, in role, to build a scene together. Improvisers must think creatively and adapt in the moment. In the same way, health professionals must learn to respond creatively and with mental agility in rapidly changing circumstances, under time pressure, sometimes in life-and-death situations — while maintaining their professional composure.
How A Cheap Ticket Scheme Changed London’s West End Theatre
At a time when internet bookings were beginning to become more popular, here was a way to get people to come to the theatre box office to buy tickets. Who doesn’t like a queue outside the theatre to make a show look popular? Also, having people arrive early in the day to buy tickets helps you shift a few extra when you’re not quite as busy as you would like. Many’s the time a box office will sell beyond the allocation of day seats to fill a draughty stalls.