Art, Culture, Economics, and Innovation in the Theatre
Originally submitted by: Barton Bund, The Blackbird Theatre
It's a real pickle. The economy takes a downturn, and arts organizations and artists have to pull it together to find what's commercial. Theatre is not a science, it's an art. What makes a success and what makes a flop? You're asking the wrong guy.
The unfortunate situation we're in is that our art winds up serving a market, primarily. Its primary function, and the purpose of theatre, I think, is to be a dynamic, fearless spectacle of ideas and emotions. Its purpose is to unite performer and spectator in a ritual journey into the nature of our existence. It holds, as twere, the mirror up to nature, and shows us the brief abstract of the times. But when the market suffers, the purpose of theatre is blunted.
The audience becomes a narrower segment of our population. A recent poll in Michigan revealed that most of our audience is made up of white upper class liberal women. What a surprise! So we're catering to the folks who we know will show up. We still try and cultivate new audiences, but primarily, we need to preach to the choir. Ann Arbor, thank god, has some choir in it. But who are we benefitting?
Has the Market replaced the Culture?
Are we serving and improving the cultural atmosphere with art and beauty? Or are we serving a starved market?
The answer is that we're doing whatever we have to do. The commercial theatre is the commercial theatre. The risky stuff is mostly underground. The Underground Theatre exists. Or perhaps 'Underground' is not the proper term. They are right there ON the ground, to be specific. Ground Zero. These are the storefront theatres, the theatres that share their spaces with galleries and other businesses, theatres that spring up in artists' living rooms. Their budgets are limited, or nonexistent. Their actors are paid out of the box, if they are paid at all. Their programming is different, and their plays would not belong in the larger commercial venues. The work is risky and dangerous. That's what you come to that side of town to see. They are decidedly and proudly un-commercial. Which is not to say that the commercial theatre does not benefit by them; there are many small venues feeding bigger ones with material and talent. And there are many bigger, more commercial venues that had modest beginnings too. Berkeley Rep, Steppenwolf, etc.
The two theatres in America that I'm referring to, the ones above ground, and the ones on the ground or below, both envy one another and very badly need what the other has. The Ground Zeroes want the resources and the facilities of the Commercial Theatres. And the Commercial Theatres want the freedom and flexibility of the Ground Zeroes.
Our company is in the unfortunate position of being somewhere in between. We see the potential for growth, and we recognize what our season should look like to achieve that end. Our sensibilities are changing; we have had to leave behind some of the ballsy original works. We adopted a strong passion for the classics. We have managed to keep the level of commitment to the work that we always had. It's an actors theatre. Every audience wants to see human passions enacted onstage. That never changes. Every audience wants to take a journey of the heart. Will we return to our freaky roots? Will we return to the odd adaptations and experimental stuff?
Absolutely. We shall try to strike the balance.
We are two sides of a coin right now. A dollar has two sides too. So does a fifty. You see what I'm saying.
I love theatre that is lean and hungry. I like it all, really. But what I love most is what is unique. I want to see something I cannot see anywhere else. I want sex and violence. I want to see real arguments, and impossible acts of treachery, and kindness too. I love moments in plays when one actor helps another to his/her feet. I love what is sexy and romantic. I love to laugh. I love complicated, big, stagey things and I love what is tiny, intimate, and immediate. I love music. I love discovery. I love the many truths of the world. We are blessed that all these things and more exist in one art form.
What do we do it for? I guess that's a question we all have to answer on our own. We all have a different answer. I'll tell you one dog-gone thing, though. I sure ain't doing it for the money.
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