Productions Your Way, My Way, or not at all?

There's been much debate in the SF Bay Area and wider theatre arts community about a production of Little Shop of Horrors, created site-specifically by the Boxcar Theatre, that was recently closed by MTI due to contract violations. I wanted to offer a summary of the situation here. I should note that I considered seeing this production and now of course wish that I had...

Theatre Bay Area: "The Big Story around a Little Shop" by my friend/colleague Dale Albright

Arts Journal: "In Whose Hands does Meaning Live?" by my friend/colleague Clay Lord

TCG: "Copyright or Wrong?" by Nick Olivero

For myself, I'm still thinking about how I would interpret this. I feel like I would have to err on the side of the licensee/rights/MTI - making sure to be mindful of how the script is intended to be presented. If I wanted to be more dynamic or drastic, I would choose a different show. This is all open to debate, and clearly generates many opinions.

The opposite of Stasis is the power of Choice

I felt that there must be a part 2 or epilogue to my post from yesterday.

Life is about choices, and we make them every day. Theatre is no exception to this. We can choose to participate in a project or not, determine how involved we want to be, how much we want the project to take over our lives...

For some people, myself included, there is high satisfaction when the theatre project does take over our lives. There's nothing like that blend of enthusiasm and collaboration and anticipation and passion that work on a performance project will likely bring.

When a theatre project is not there in daily life, or concludes, I may not know what to do with myself! There's an initial feeling of emptiness, then enjoyment of "more free time" ... and sooner or later, the desire returns to be part of a project again.

But wait! There's other parts of life, too! In my case at least, there's grad school, local friends, family, friends farther away, a Buddhist community, engagement in San Rafael, Marin, and the Bay Area, the possibility of traveling around a large and beautiful US State, and many more opportunities. All worthwhile and exciting endeavors in their own right.

Nonetheless, I still feel like theatre work takes a different kind of ownership of my/our time. When I'm not with that artistic process, I feel guilty about it, like a friend is being left behind. If theatre work took human or physical form, I wonder what it would look like, how I/we would interact with it, and if others may notice this feeling, too.

The Role of the Space

I’ve been thinking recently about the importance of THE SPACE in any theatrical setting. This is something I’ve always known, but for some reason, I’ve been taking more note of it in recent theatergoing. Of course it is all my opinion, too. I think the impressions started with my first visit to the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto last December. I found TheatreWorks’ original venue to be disappointingly amateurish for a company of their stature. It offers a very small lobby space and a high school style main auditorium, with beige walls and little decorations. It seemed to not fit with TheatreWorks and their high status as a major regional LORT theatre, with deliberately inclusive casting and a varied output of productions.

My company, Porchlight, is often praised for the simplicity and beauty of its performance space, nestled in a grove of Redwoods. I've added a picture from our 2009 production of THREE SISTERS to illustrate the effect. In this case, the natural environment becomes a character in itself. Indeed, that same production's opening night was interrupted by an energetic windstorm, so fierce that it knocked over several props and the actors added a few improvisations to cope with (and be heard above) the wind. Last year with DANGEROUS LIAISONS, the elements were more cooperative. The directors chose to use the space to the story's advantage, with a climactic fight beginning backstage in the wings and several characters entering and exiting from offstage.

The Bay Area's flagship theatre, ACT, boasts one of the most traditionally theatrical spaces in the region. The Geary Theater offers three levels of audience seating, and two bars in the basement and third floors. Further description is offered in this Wikipedia article. In the half-dozen or so plays I have attended at ACT, most recently just last night, I've found that the theatricality is both positive and negative. The performers seem to be aspiring to a higher, or highest theatrical standard with great conviction in their line delivery and interaction onstage. The design reflects an understanding of the space, as seen in two distinct staircases for two of this season's earlier productions. But sometimes the directors and designers forget about the balcony, as with last night when key action occurred in an invisible house left, and my first production there in 2006 (TRAVESTIES) when the actors onstage were lost amidst the Stoppard language.

For something local and in between, the tight-knit elegance of the Berkeley City Club comes to my mind. I can't find a specific photo of their theatre online, but the hotel website's virtual tour conveys the larger elegance of the building. Originally home to the Aurora Theatre Company, the space is now housed by Central Works, an especially innovative local theatre group. In past visits, I have been impressed how Central Works uses the space to its advantage, squeezing in no more than 60 or so audience members... and yet conveying different scenes and places through subtle lighting changes and usage of varying entrances and exits.

I suppose this topic is another one that may cross people's minds but (in the larger picture) not be discussed with regularity. It would be intriguing and beneficial to send a random poll, someday, over people's impressions of theatrical spaces - from professionals to novices, donors to patrons, and designers to actors.

Theatre and Community

I wrote this post in February when making my final visit to the Sonoma County Repertory Theater, which closed for good a few days later. Happily, the theatre space (aka the Main Street Theater) in Sebastopol will soon re-open in a new incarnation.

(I will not necessarily cross-post Theatrical Buddha Man posts here in the future, but thought this was a good place to start fresh in this blog.)

February 17th

I’ve traveled up to Sebastopol (Sonoma County) this evening to visit the Sonoma County Repertory Theater for the 4th production I have seen here. Unfortunately, it will also be the last, as they will be closing following the run of the current show Cyrano (a three person version) on Sunday, February 20th. About two years ago, it was an unfortunate trend to have several theatres declare that they “needed to raise _____ amount of dollars or they will close for good.” Now, we seem to have reached the second round, with the Rep shutting its doors (after a similar campaign last fall) and a few other places in the Bay Area either downsizing or not continuing to produce.

The Rep’s relationship between arts and community is exactly the type of theatrical life that I would like to lead someday. They have a small storefront space nestled right into the downtown Main Street of Sebastopol. They seem to have been well established in the community, and formerly produced in nearby Santa Rosa. They had an extensive outreach program to local schools with education flourishing. The theatre seems to have contributed greatly to downtown nightlife, boosting the income of a few eateries around the town and general foot traffic. They will continue to maintain the “Sebastopol Shakespeare Festival”, presenting one show in a nearby outdoor park during the summer season. It seems unfortunate, but realistic, that they have to close.

What will the theatres become if they all narrow down to a select few houses presenting fewer and fewer plays each season? I wonder if the budgets will survive, either, with headlines today about how the NEA budget is almost completely eliminated and sources of philanthropic funding have dwindled considerably. I suppose there is something to be said for a “back to the land” style of thinking, where the theatres get more involved with their communities – and that is something I would support. On the other side, there are many arts workers, myself included, who have chosen (and need!) to make a living through their artistic pursuits. They need the work and they want to be artistically stimulated and challenged.

SF Bay Area Critics Circle Awards Night

I had the good fortune to attend this year's San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Awards Night (yes, that's a mouthful!) with several friends from Porchlight Theatre this past Monday night.

My friends who attended in previous years said that this year's ceremony was a step up from previous events, and it was easy to see how and why. Instead of being super-critical (ha, ha, ha...) this time the critics were at our service. Free food (and drinks!), good conversation, and a rollicking list of awards were all provided for the theatre community to peruse and gobble up. The setting - the Palace of Fine Arts - was intriguing as well. We weren't allowed to go in the actual theatre, but stayed in the lobby instead. Still, this was a visually stimulating space with a nice, NYC style supper club setup for the evening.

Porchlight didn't win our one award nomination (beaten by The Actors' Theatre of San Francisco and their production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf), but all of us enjoyed being there for the evening. For me it was an interesting "meeting" of multiple theatre worlds in this area. I attended with good friends from Porchlight, where I've formed a long-term professional relationship, but also saw colleagues and acquaintances from nearly all of my previous freelance positions over the past year and a half. Just goes to prove that the Bay Area theatre community is surprisingly small and intimate, for a region of its size, and that there are many more avenues to explore.

Safe House

I'm looking forward to catching this new play tomorrow night at the SF Playhouse. It received a solid review in the SF Chronicle and seems to be dark and moody, my favorite type of experimental theatre.

More theatre news from the Bay Area Theatre World (JP's Theatre World) should resume in a couple of weeks. Grad school work has taken over the majority of my time.

Another Evening on the PlayGround

I went over to Berkeley tonight for the monthly installment of PlayGround, "San Francisco's source for New Play Development". I had bought a subscription at the first show of the season in mid-October. However, due to unforeseen reasons, I had to miss the November and December shows and this evening was my return to the format. However, it's still a good deal, with the five shows I will see coming out to a total of $50. And I feel good about choosing to support a small, ambitious local arts organization (aside from my home company) on moderate financial terms.

Tonight's theme for the five-six 10-15 minute plays was "Fish Out of Water", short musical theatre pieces performed with the accompaniment of Joshua Raoul Brody, a noted local improvisational musician. The climax came in the final piece, "The Origin of the Species/Showtune", a "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread" style musical parody of musicals.

All of tonight's pieces were magnetizing and appealing in one form or another. However, I felt the most successful ones came at the middle of the show, as they focused on 2-3 characters and generally followed more intimate storylines. The two that stood out most for me were "Back" and "A Lovely Day".

"Back" told a story of family strife in the 1960's in a humorous manner. A father, mother and daughter broke the fourth wall to express their disdain for their lives. Suddenly, they switched into song and told their stories through a rhyming round, eventually coming back together as one large happy family.

"A Lovely Day" straddled lines of comedy and drama as it sketched a tale of an apparent amnesiac and her husband. What could have been an overly serious (or overly silly) subject was treated with restraint through the dialogue. The husband expressed sympathy for his wife and her plight (which she had no idea of), but then pivoted and said he enjoyed watching "Memento" and laughing at some scenes, as she apparently did too. The theme worked and led to an honest-feeling conclusion.

PlayGround assembles a pool of writers to write these scripts in a period of five days or less. This time, the music was also composed (complete with lyrics) in that same time frame. It has a zestful yet presentational energy of guerrilla theatre at its best, which is exactly why I enjoy being a part of the audience at each performance.

SWAT Analysis

In my ongoing development work, I've recently learned the term "SWAT Analysis", and we've begun the process for Porchlight.

A SWAT Analysis looks at strengths, weaknesses, advantages, and threats for a particular theatre company or group. I would reccomend the process and hope to write more about it soon.

Live/Work Situations in the Theatre

Recently I have been reflecting on the value of live/work situations for myself and others in the theatre/performing arts world.

Without realizing it at the time, college theatre life gave me excellent grounding in the process of living and working together with like-minded individuals. This process had a tune-up in 2003-04, when I lived in Donut 1 and knew everyone else in the donut at least moderately well, even though they weren’t all theatre concentrators. However, things really hit their stride for my final three semesters, from The Shape Of Things all the way to Future’s Secret, when it seemed like everyone in my immediate college life was involved with the current theatre project in one role or another.

Of course, some of this was planned in advance, such as taking the room in Mod 64 with a bird’s eye view of the theatre and being able to come and go from home at a moment’s notice and role out of bed to work during some days. We had a duo of power between Mod 64 and 65 that year and the cast/crew parties seemed to alternate mods for a while. I gather the setup was replicated for at least the next 2-3 academic years...

But what's becoming particularly clear is how my professional work ethic has been affected by live/work situations. In my current living arrangement, things are pretty ideal. I can walk to work at the amphitheatre 1/2 mile down the street. When rehearsals begin for Les Liasons Dangeruses in May, they will be 1/2 mile the other direction down the street. Monthly meetings for the company are generally within a 3 mile radius of where I live. I can also work from home on a certain amount of projects for the company.

For school, the setup is similarly easy. I board a commuter bus right outside my front door that travels down the street to the ferry terminal, then board the ferry for the 30-40 minute crossing of the San Francisco Bay, and then final to a subway that stops right in the block where my school is located. When going home in the evening, I walk 3 blocks to pick up a bus that goes back north over the Golden Gate Bridge and will drop me right at my front door back in Marin. Although I am frequently irritated by the transit agency’s lack of monthly travel passes (COME ON???!!!), the daily cost of $8.75 round trip is relatively reasonable.

What I’m noticing now is that this ease has positively affected my work ethic. I feel happy and excited to work with the theatre company because they are so close and I am ingrained in the fabric of this local community - I can walk nearly everywhere. I did not feel this way during my brief stint in Silicon Valley commuting to local theatres and schools and into SF by train. I also frequently felt the slog of commuting from the East Bay into SF when I lived in Richmond and had to commute back and forth 4-5 times per week.

I wonder if other people might feel this way about their work life - happier or more committed when it is close by or fully integrated into their life. It would be an unusual thing to bring up in a social setting, but I do think there is some truth to it.

The Chatterbox.

For another example of multiple-perspective theatre blogging, I wanted to cite "The Chatterbox", a service of Theatre Bay Area.

Several of my former colleagues at that organization (which I remain involved with as a member of their Individual Services Committee) have created an ongoing dialogue mixing Bay Area theatre news, such as the recent success of American Idiot at Berkeley Rep (maybe I'll post a review of that show), with more long-term work, such as studies about marketing and diversity. It's worth a read.

Thoughts on Gendered Relationships of Plays.

I'm reposting this entry, originally written in May, 2009, as an introduction to this blog. I wrote it intending to start a more regular dramatic criticism blog (theatricalbuddhaman.wordpress.com), but, that has yet to get off the ground.

I contrasted two plays seen within that past month ~ one at the atmospheric Brava Theater Center in San Francisco, and the other at the charmingly rustic Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma.

________

Have been thinking about my impressions of recent plays in light of the realization that of the 20+ plays I’ve seen in the Bay Area this year, the ones that stood out the most (thus far) were written by men, but produced in all other areas by women. I’m interested to contemplate if this is a coincidence or part of a larger thematic trend. Cases are outlined below. In both cases, I had a direct connection to at least one cast member.

Over the Mountain: “Set in an oddly familiar totalitarian state, this lyrical play explores a world where two sisters, faced with the severities of war, must make choices that threaten to sever them forever” said the press release. I heard about it through an email from a supporting player, whom I’d worked with last fall and co-starred as a close friend and fellow freedom fighter. In her words, this African American actress “didn’t want to look like a Black Panther” so she dyed her black/gray hair platinum blond just for the part.

The play felt like theatrical nirvana to me, from the grand theatre space originally used as a 1930’s cinema to the sparse set design that captured a cross between being stuck in the outside world and stuck in one’s home. Original music emphasized the lyricism of the dialogue and surroundings, and the composer was featured in a small ensemble part. The story felt immediate because it did not over-expositive itself. The totalitarian state was never named, which added to the urgency of the plot and acting. The sisters and protagonists didn’t know where they were going next, and the audience members were right there with them.

Collected Stories, seen last night in its opening performance at the charming Cinnabar Theatre in Petaluma, was a vastly different subject: the wars of academia and hidden issues of class and status within that profession. An older professor and younger devoted student are initially drawn together when the student becomes her personal assistant. As the years pass and they are drawn closer, it becomes apparent that each character has a hidden agenda. It is only through an act of betrayal (or is it?) that a resolution is achieved, and its not a happy one.

This production benefitted from extremely focused performances from its two leads, solid on-the-mark direction, and a beautiful set that included large cutouts of historical figures alongside three musty brown bookshelves in the professor’s apartment. The play stays in my mind because there are no easy answers, and although you may think that one side of the story is the right way to see it, a compelling reason exists to consider the other side as well. Both of the lead actresses have performed in the past with my current company, Porchlight, and the director was the resident directer for PTC from 2002-07.

I wonder if these plays would have been different if it was an all-male company performing it? Or if the genders were mixed of the teacher and student? It’s likely that the dramatic impact would not be the same, and the general theme is something worth considering as I continue to lead an active performing arts cultural life here.