While we're on the subject, sort of, there's Brendan Kiley's list in the Stranger (Seattle's alt-weekly) of 10 things theaters MUST DO OMG RIGHTNOW BEFORE THEY DIIEEEE. It's written in the Stranger's default-asshole voice, which I find a bit irritating, but the points are worth considering and discussing.
The comments are an interesting read, too; funny how many Seattle artists seem to think of Chicago as a magical land where theater comes easy. To correct one misconception: It's no longer true that the Reader "reviews EVERY SINGLE PLAY on the scene," as one commenter puts it. Maybe once upon a time, but not now. Neither does TOC. No one can. Print space and resources are shrinking. We have to be selective in what we cover.
Which is why Kiley's point number two, "Tell us something we don't know," is a very good one. Young companies are much more likely to get my attention with an original work, or a Chicago premiere of a play from elsewhere. I'm sure your revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs on the third floor of the Athenaeum is amazing, but it's not going to get press.
Not even Totally Awesome Theatre Company's production of "Brighton Beach Memoirs?" (That's their spring show.)
Posted by: Ed | October 10, 2008 at 04:24 PM
Totally Awesome Theatre Company is one of the most exciting 3-month old companies I've seen on the scene for years. You should totally check them out. But yes, BBMot3fothA was not a good choice for their inaugural and possibly final production.
I might add that their child care is top notch. While I think adding both child care and alcohol services to your theater's operations at the same times of day might be an insurance hazard, these are really solid points.
Except for this in the comments: ".. you don't have to pay royalties for any theater under 400 people, and usually not at all because it's for educational purposes."
I guess that'll save our company some money this year... Open season on royalties for storefront theaters! If only it were true. Nah, I actually ENJOY supporting playwrights who are willing to give us an opportunity to premiere their play for the midwest.
Posted by: Nick Keenan | October 11, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Finally got around to reading the Stranger article, and I actually have a huge beef with nos. 1 & 2 because they display exactly the sort of thought process that makes them unnecessary problems. We need to stop defining new work as new words.
Yeah, if all your start-up is looking to do is a play that people know to make up for the fact that they won't know anything else about you, then knock it off -- you're eating up all the resources. If, on the other hand, you're putting up a classic because you know that you can rock the shit out of it (and rock is very much the operative word) like no one has rocked the shit out of it before (and by that I mean not better, but actually in a style, conceit, adaptation, etc., way that no one has before, at least in recent memory and in your market) then by all means go for it. That's what theatre needs: not words, ideas. And new ideas sometimes manifest themselves as new words, but t'ain't a requirement.
Example: Compare the last two or three seasons of The Hypocrites and Actor's Workshop (excuse me, Redtwist). A veritable greatest hits of the theatre world on each end, and even a little overlap between the two. One of these things is not like the other. And one of these things is just more of the same.
Original theatre is not defined by the words spoken. I've seen enough hackneyed, cliche-ridden, bound to never be produced again world premieres to know that. And just enough twisted, razor's-edge, hit and run versions of 'safe choices' to do the same. But far, far more of the former than the latter. And no one's addressing that problem. That problem that Rule No. 2 is only going to make worse.
Posted by: Paul Rekk | October 13, 2008 at 03:59 PM
My personal rule? No more of these lists. Some of the points are decent (childcare, alcohol), some are utter bs (no living wage, no Shakespeare, no grad school), but the list in general seems designed more to congratulate the author on how forward-thinking and rule-breaking he is than to actually offer help. Who needs it?
Posted by: Zev Valancy | October 23, 2008 at 02:14 PM