Drawing a Bright Line

I just ran across this old-ish post on a blog I follow (yet don't read as often as I should.)  Yowza.  I'm not sure that it's a bad thing for non-profit theatre to serve as the "minor leagues" for commercial theatre, but boy howdy do I appreciate the Spartan resolve of Scott Walter's modest proposal:

While I was thinking about this issue and how best to address it, I came up with an idea that absolutely everybody will hate which, if I were an avant garde artist, I would see as proof that it is an excellent idea. And while I acknowledge its likelihood of universal horror, and also the complicated details that would be involved, I am going to share it anyway as a "modest proposal" offered to provoke thought if nothing else.

Go to Scott Walter's blog and be provoked:  An Idea That Everyone Will Hate

A Modest Proposal:

The Theatre Guide for People Who Hate the Theatre

I have a pet theory as to why Joe Public stays away from the live theatre: He doesn't want to be disappointed. It's not so much a pet theory as a dead horse I like to wail on from time to time.  Almost as much as I like to quote Seth Godin.  Speaking of which:

So who comes on opening night? No discounts, no reviews, no warning...

The patrons come. For them, part of the attraction of art is that they don't know in advance if they're going to like it. They come for a simple reason: it feels good to support something because they can, not merely because it's a good value.

And the true fans come. They come because the artist has earned their trust. "If you made it, that's good enough for me," they say. They come because to not come is to not be a true fan, with all that entails.

Gotta love them "true fans."  They're not your problem.  Your problem is Joe Public!

Joe has no patience for crap.  He's outcome oriented:  "Entertain me!" he says as he plops down his greenbacks.  He'll go see whatever big action movie just opened because at the very least, he'll get spectacle.  Joe Public wants a good value.  He wants to know in advance if he's going to like it.

And at $25 a ticket, why the hell shouldn't we give him a clear indication of whether or not he will?  A clear and concise -- some may say cynical and crass -- guide to what's currently occupying our Under-99's across Los Angeles may just encourage Joe to put down the Xbox controller, cancel that pay-per-view UFC fight, or eject that Blu-ray disc and instead throw on a clean hoodie and go see a play.

You may be saying to yourself, "Do we even want that kind of patron to darken our door?"  Look, just quit entertainment.  There's still time to get a job in arts administration.  Seriously.

So here's the proposal to bring Joe Public into our meager little black boxes.  I call it ...

The Theatre Guide for People Who Hate Theatre

... and it would have the following sections:
 
RUN TIME  Three hour plays may be incredibly gratifying to the people putting them on, but let's not kid ourselves:  A three hour MOVIE damn well better have a major battle scene involving giant robots, orcs, spaceships, WWII or some combination of all four.  At the very least, give Joe a heads-up.  A short runtime = "At the very least, it's short."  A long runtime = "There had better be swordplay and/or gratuitous nudity."

GENRE  Is it a light-hearted romantic comedy or a serious psychodrama?  Look, let's make it easy on Joe Public:  "ROMANTIC COMEDY". Oh God, do we hate labels. "We're all iconoclasts, dammit! You can't label what we do!" Look, either you provide the label, or Joe Public will. What you're doing here is managing expectations. The choice to call it a "Romantic Comedy" instead of just "Comedy" or "Romance" will actually color the way your audience perceives the play. Make it accurate! (Don't we all just hate the romantic comedy that pitches itself as an action film?)

SYNOPSIS  Logline.  TV Guide synopsis.  Don't write a novel, just tell Joe what it's about.  You would be surprised how many show postcards omit the very simple step of TELLING THE AUDIENCE WHAT THE DAMN THING IS ABOUT.  Sure, the postcard is pretty, but what's the story?

WHAT IT IS LIKE  You're going to hate this one: Yes, I'm suggesting you describe the show in terms of "high concept." This guide is all about letting Joe know what he can expect, right? So tell him, in words he can instantly translate into concepts. "The guide says it's 'Donnie Darko' meets "Gosford Park.' Sweet. I'll have to check out this 'Hamlet'." (What a piece of work is a man.) And by the way, every play about a pedophile ever written is "Law & Order: SVU" meets "Stealing Home".

PRODUCTION VALUES  Are there any?  As I said, Joe Public is willing to pay to see spectacle, if nothing else.  A set, decent costumes, more than three semi-functional fresnels -- these things matter.  You don't have to belabor it (unless there's something worth noting like flying monkeys or gratuitous nudity), maybe just give it a star rating.

PARKING  Will Joe Public miss the first ten minutes of the show because he's doing laps?  True confession time:  I've bailed on seeing a show because I couldn't find parking, and I got fed up looking.  I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one who's done that.  So break it down for Joe Public: "Meters are safe after 6pm."  "Park around the corner at the Moose Lodge."  Etc.

CONCESSIONS  "If you can't entertain me, at least give me a snack."  A genius once said this to me, and it is as true as it is pithy.  We all know that alcohol is the social lubricant, and theatre is a social art, so lubricate the audience!

In closing, one of my fellow Die Grüppe castmates recently had this to say after one of our shows:  "I had some audience members who were NOT friends of mine tell me they thought it was really funny."  That should be what we're shooting for:  entertaining complete strangers.  Yes, we love the True Fans, and we are always happy to see familiar faces in the audience.  The real challenge is to reach the seemingly unreachable, to push out of our circle of True Fans and create new fans.  That's how you grow.

Rockstar Theatre

Dave Grohl is Rock and Roll
image: Some rights reserved by Krypto

From ArtsHub, "7 tips to promote a gig and pull a crowd" by Lachlan Bryan:

It’s a fundamental question in the live music business; why do some some local gigs pack in the punters, whilst others fail miserably to draw a crowd? Often the venue is the same, the night of the week the same, sometimes it’s even the same band. Few are naive enough to think it’s actually ‘the music’ that makes the difference.

Whilst there are always variables at play, my observations have led me to this 7 point checklist for promoting a successful hometown gig…

Go read the whole thing. 

I think we can learn a lot from the work-a-day world of the gigging musician.  Musicians have to make it happen for themselves, and as into their own art as they may be, they must contend with the practical matter of reaching an audience (literally) staring them in the face.  You can't fill an arena with friends and family, you need fans.

So how might we apply these seven rules to small theatre?

1. The Venue Stay nomadic.  Don't enter into a long-term agreement with one theater.  For your three-person drama dealing with fe-e-e-elings, find the smallest hole possible.  If you have a cast of twenty in "Twilight: The Stage Play," go big.  In otherwords, rightsize the venue to fit the production.  And keep an eye on your nut!  If you need to make X dollars to cover your expenses, don't shackle yourself to a ticket price/number of seats that will guarantee you'll never cover your nut.

And here's a crazy idea:  Work with the theater management.  The better your show does, the more likely you won't be paying off the back-end of what you owe for rent a month after the show closes.  Theater owners got into the business because they actually like theater.  Ask their advice, pick their brains for promotional ideas in the neighborhood, etc.

2. The Lineup Share the venue.  Find another company that would like to do a double-feature.  This happens a little with late-night shows (improv or something scrappy like that) after a so-called mainstage show.  You can pool audiences with another company!  NOTE:  If you do this, please refrain from producing a 2 - 3 hour-long show.  (Actually, as a general rule avoid producing 2 - 3 hour-long shows.)

3. The Poster One of the most brilliant things I've read this week came from Amarita Ramanan at HowlRound:  "A marketing manager practices dramaturgy by communicating to an audience to mission and vision of the art through website blurbs, posters and brochures." Yes. That.  If the graphic designer isn't sweating as much as the cast, he or she isn't working hard enough.

4. The Online Stuff Theatre seems to be generally ahead of the curve on this point, so I won't say much more than this:  What Ramanan said about dramaturgy applies to the online stuff.  Just because the internet makes it seem effortless to promote doesn't mean you should put as much effort (and thought and creativity) into it as possible.

5. Pre-Sales  Again, we seem to be ahead of the curve on this one.  Brownpaper tickets, Goldstar, etc.  Now, the idea of using pre-sales as a way of monitoring your marketing efforts?  Brilliant.

6. The Show Itself Words I never want to hear again:  "I wish you hadn't come on opening night!"  Look, opening night is not a dress rehearsal.  Bryan's advice regarding "Have a thorough sound-check" could not be more applicable to what we do, as well.  Get to the theater early enough to fix the invariable technical issues that will have come up between curtain call last week and house opening this week.  Talk to the people you share the space with.  Work with the theater management.  Don't be surprised by a dead light or dimmer pack.

And, of course, put on a good show.

7. The Follow-Up Theatre tends to have this covered as well.  Tends to.  I think the last time I saw an email list for a stage play was for Re-Animator at the Steve Allen last year.  Lili VonSchtupp, producer of Monday Night Tease puts the email sign-up on stage at intermission and has the host say, "Join the email list."  Her shows have been standing room only for some time now (of course, she has boobs in her show, so that may be a factor.)  The point is, it's easy to forget.  A blanket "thank-you" on Facebook is great.  An email address has value. (Also, you can forward an email.)

...

To quote the great Jeff Bebe in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous, "You know what I do? I connect. I get people off. I look for the guy who isn't getting off, and I make him get off." That, my friends, is rock and roll.  It's also theatre -- or should be.

Fury that Signifies Something

Over at Bitter Lemons, a powerful piece by dramaturg Dylan Southard, their newest contributor.  It builds to a beauty of a final statement:  "We can do these plays. We shouldn’t be casting them down into developmental hell. We should be pulling them out."

Dylan warns the reader that he is about to unleash the "Fury of the Dramaturg."  I would call it common sense. 

On the low-end of theatre production, resources can be so tight that any public performance is dear -- be it a workshop, a fundraiser, or Miss Julie set on skid row.  Yet with that poverty comes incredible richness.  Small companies have the freedom to rapidly prototype, to create shows that respond to a moment in time and a specific community.  Those plays can then go on to new heights. 

Look at Theatre Unleashed's production of The Spidey Project.  What started out as a scrappy response to bloated Broadway excess is getting a proper West Coast debut with a budget most assuredly well north of the original production's $0 price tag.  A rapidly prototyped production that ran for two performances for free in New York has found legs (and a six-week run and runaway ticket sales) in Los Angeles.

The lesson here?  It doesn't take two years to create a killer show.  It takes the nerve to try new things, trusting and working with your fellow artists (i.e. playwright), and above all not taking it all so damn seriously.  To quote the great Peter Brook:

"... for by nature the popular theatre is anti-authoritarian, anti-traditional, anti-pomp, anti-pretence.  This is the theatre of noise, and the theatre of noise is the theatre of applause."

Make 'em roar, TU.

Mad Respect

A press release just hit the inbox at Mad Theatrics HQ:

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, AWARD-WINNING ELEPHANT THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES PLANNING INITIATIVE FOR 2012 SEASON

Elephant Theatre Company Artistic Directors David Fofi and Lindsay Allbaugh have announced that the company will be taking one year off (the 2012 season) from mounting productions, with the intention of using the year to strengthen the company, and restructure the management and membership, as well as the Board of Directors. The Elephant also plans to hire a Managing Director, and to focus on the development of sustainable fundraising initiatives.

Said Allbaugh, "Although this is a very difficult decision, it is a necessary one for the future and health of our company. There is no doubt that we can produce a high quality show with our ensemble of award-winning actors, designers, and playwrights. However, it has become very clear to us that over the past couple of seasons that in order to achieve greater stability in this economy, and to rise to the next level, it takes more than ‘putting on a great show.’ Our administrative capacity, our fundraising initiatives, and even our developmental programming is often neglected due to the immediate production needs and deadlines. In this upcoming year we will strengthen the core of our company and our mission, we will focus on creating a strategic plan which will support our artistic endeavors, and we will continue to develop new work with our ensemble."

The Elephant Theatre Company, now entering its 16th season, is a staple of the Los Angeles theatre community. Known for developing and producing new work, the company has been named three years in a row by Back Stage as ‘Favorite Theatre Company to See and Work With,’ as well as receiving multiple Ovation, LADCC, and LA Weekly award nominations and wins. Last season's west coast premiere of Kate Fodor's 100 Saints You Should Know is currently nominated for four LA Weekly Awards, and one LADCC Award. The Elephant concluded its very successful 15th season with the world premiere play Love Sick by Kristina Poe, and the rarely produced Baby Doll by Tennessee Williams, both of which had extended, sold out runs.

Hollywood’s Elephant Theatre Company will return in early 2013 with an exciting new season of plays. A job description for the position of Managing Director will be posted in March. For more information, visit www.elephanttheatrecompany.com. Visit the Elephant on Facebook, and follow us on twitter @elephanttheatre.

"Our administrative capacity, our fundraising initiatives, and even our developmental programming is often neglected due to the immediate production needs and deadlines."  It takes courage to face up to this, and I think Elephant Theatre is making the absolute right decision.

Theatre is ephemeral.  It's easy to neglect the tomorrow and focus on the now -- especially if you seem to be winning in the moment.  For companies or individual artists interested in longevity and growth, sometimes you have to take a breather and sort your life out.  It's the mature, responsible thing to do.

Follow the Bee

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Unplug Grandma

I love the tagline for this new political satire by Jeremy Kehoe: "If you don't want to die, don't get old." It's a nice witticism from a show that's still searching for solid ground to stand on. As the director Amy Tofte, who is also a founder of the producing company Fierce Backbone and also its President, told the audience before the house lights went down, this is a workshop - somewhere between 99-seat theatre and Broadway, which she made of point of noting is the reason for the minimalist set. My first thought is, never apologize for a minimalist set before a show. Embrace it. I happened to like it. Since this was a workshop "so the writer could hear his words", and no doubt the reaction from the audience, most of the remainder of my thoughts will be directed at the script itself in hopes to help along his creative process with some of my own observations.

It's the future, a few Presidential elections down the line, Palin...Bristol Palin has become president, and a new law, "Fahrenheit 451" style, has been put into place. If you are too old to be of use, a member of a death unit gets your name and puts you out of everyone elses misery. It saves the country money and everyone else the hassle. Writing this brief synopsis, I imagine loads of opportunities for witty, biting and dark comedy, which the script in it's current form doesn't take full advantage of. Yes, the country saves money on Medicare, etc, but in what other ways are the elderly a pain? Much of this humor can come directly from Chase, as he has some major issues with those older than he is and for good reason. It's an absurd idea, so allow it to become a little more absurd; like a political cartoon.

Instead the tone of the show leans more towards a very austere, apathetic future, which could also be great, but this route makes the subject matter far too serious to call it a comedy. It currently feels more like a bedroom drama with an allegorical slant, in which the two sides of the coin are argued back and forth for most of the show (the writer preferring the side of not killing old people). It mainly takes place in one location, the apartment of a married couple MUFFY and CHASE. Muffy is the wife who has become disenchanted with the country and her marriage with Chase, as he has found employment as one of the death squad members. He claims this is so he can provide for Muffy, but he has deep seated parental issues of his own and a power trip from all the killing. A lot of the turmoil comes from Muffy having to take care of her two elderly parents Poppy and Mommy while Chase carries around a long, thin baton for beating people of their age to death with.

Muffy gets the idea that if she can bring Chase's long lost Mother into the picture, she can change his mind about the elderly and turn him back into the man she was once in love with. Love this idea. However, the entirety of the first act is a lead up to this, which is a problem. Not much happens in the first act. It takes a very long time to even begin to figure out the premise of the show. I'm all for building a little mystery into a story, but the sooner we get this out, the sooner we can play with the idea with the audience, as opposed to keeping them at arms length...it's one of the few helpful things I learned going through The Groundlings school of Improv. So, the first half is all mainly set up. There's a strange opening scene in which Muffy is taking notes from a taped recording, which makes a little more sense later, but is too oblique and strange especially since the device is never used again. We meet her parents. We meet Chase. We learn that while Chase does truly love Muffy, Muffy is unhappy. We circle this unhappy marriage for awhile, the back and forth doesn't dig too deep for the length of time spent on it; it can be made more concise. Or I'd love to see Muffy appear to actually still love Chase. I never understood why she ever did. This is something else to take note of, since the characters begin the show already firmly planted in their ideals, there's no inner conflict with any of the characters. There's no chance that they will change. There's nothing pushing them during the show towards who they decide to become. This deflates some of the potential for drama. Let us perhaps see doubt, on both sides. Let us see why she loves him in the beginning. This will also help balance out the arguments - right now it's very one-sided. I'd love as an audience member to really be put in a place to think that killing the elderly could be good for our society. But those arguments have to be really keen observations.

In the first act, there's a nice visit from Chase's sleazy boss ANDERSON, which, aside from the premise, provides the only real palpable bit of satire we see in the show. Then a mysterious woman arrives.

The second act opens with more of the same, only we get to see Chase interact with Muffy's parents. Poppy and Mommy provide light touches of humor, but nowhere near where the writer could take the satire and comedy. There's a nice moment between Mommy and Chase before Poppy drags her out. Then the mysterious woman arrives and the script elevates. The characters are drawn out of their selves and forced to face who they are and why they might be who they are. Or at least Chase is; outside of being depressed, Muffy is perfect. Yes, that was a little snarky. Thsi sequence with Chase's Mother, Ruth, was for me the best part of the script. Secrets are uncovered, a plot twist that bordered on the very convenient occurred. Does Ruth have to be the Mother Sarah of the elderly - it was a little too out of left field for me, but if we got to spend a little more time with Muffy and Ruth in the first act...well, maybe there are ways to make this work better.

The biggest problem for me with the script was the final scene, which seemed unnecessary from a storytelling stand point and a dramatic one as well. Everything that needed to be said, was already said - and sometimes repeated from argument to argument. It was quite literally like watching the first 3/4 of Act 2 repeated, just with a set change and a lack of heightened conflict. It's 10 minutes that can be excised and nothing will be lost. You don't need to put a bow on everything. And with that, I'm going to put a bow on this rather informal review. I wish the writer good luck with this project, I see lots of potential and I hope he's able to get good enough notes to help him continue in the right direction.

As a final thought, if we look this far into the future, acronyms like LOL and OMG probably won't be at the cutting edge of how youths communicate. I'm 33 and there are already acronyms that I don't understand that people 5 years younger than me are using. It makes me feel old and out of the loop. These are areas the writer can have a little more fun in.

Unplug Grandma. February 17th-26th at Studio Stage. 520 North Western Ave, LA, CA 90004.
Fri and Sat 8pm, Sun at 7pm.
For tickets go to: www.fiercebackbone.com