[NEOPAL]Fear of possible dissolving of theatre in the U.S.

Thu Apr 6 14:02:25 PDT 2006

--part1_31e.1c4ef74.3166dbe1_boundary
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

If I may ramble for a moment . . . 

This is an issue that I've discussed at great lengths with different people, 
and one that should be on the minds of theater artists across the country.  
It's true, theater has it's problems right now.  In our country when the economy 
suffers, so does our entertainment.  Although this shouldn't a be a political 
discussion, a republican heavy government is less likely to approve non for 
profit funding than a more democratic one.  

With our world evolving into such a technologically advanced society, people 
would rather spend 10 dollars to go see CGI on the big screen than pay 20 to 
100 something to see live actors.  With levels of communication going from 
telephones, to faxes to text messaging and picture messaging, I sometimes fear 
we're forgetting how to communicate, how to respond, and how to deal with a live 
performance in front of us without the safety of a button to stop it.  Live 
theater is dangerous to some people - so they don't go.

And it's true; youth is a problem.  More often than not you'll find a very 
high percentage of audiences to be senior citizens.  And as our elderly pass on 
and we move into a new cycle of generations, we may be wondering where our 
audiences went.  

To quote "A Mid Winter's Tale" (a movie you should definitely watch with this 
problem in your mind)  "churches close and theaters close everyday because 
finally, people don't want them anymore - they're not interested."

So - we have some problems here.  

But we also have this:  we have a theater community here thriving in a way I 
don't believe it was 5 years ago.  I left the Cleveland theater scene to go to 
college in 2000 and came back this year impressed by the developments.  This 
list, these new theaters, and older theaters continuing to grow and advance.  
I may be wrong, but I feel like we're still growing, still expanding, and 
still should have hope for this community and this art form.

As for the problem of youth, I use the tobacco company method: get em while 
they're young.  There is much to be said for children's theater, teaching 
classes and student matinees.  Although some of this may not be the meaty stuff 
some of us would like to do all the time, it is too important to ignore.  Start 
kids early going to the theater or getting involved in classes.  Start some 
marketing campaigns targeted at young adults, work with middle school, high 
schools, day cares . . . These kids that have cell phones at the age of 10, they're 
our audiences of tomorrow.

There are also a few new companies starting to cater to young adults.  The 
Bang and the Clatter Theatre (a company I recently did a show with) is a 
contemporary company having their inaugural season this year.  One of their aims is 
to get new, young, non-theater goers in the seats.

It's true, we have an uphill battle.  But theater is still (in my very 
opinionated opinion) the rawest, the oldest, (and for this young actor) the most 
fufilling are form there is.  Technology may continue to grow and surpass and 
find new ways to entertain every man and woman on earth with the push of a 
button, but in the end people have an innate human desire to want to be told a 
story.  And that's what we do. 

Take heart, Ken.  We're the shamen and the gypsies of the world.  We won't go 
away.

Alicia Rodis

--part1_31e.1c4ef74.3166dbe1_boundary
Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<HTML><HTML>If I may ramble for a moment . . .=20=
 
 
This is an issue that I've discussed at great lengths with different people,=
 and one that should be on the minds of theater artists across the country.&=
nbsp; It's true, theater has it's problems right now.  In our country w=
hen the economy suffers, so does our entertainment.  Although this shou=
ldn't a be a political discussion, a republican heavy government is less lik=
ely to approve non for profit funding than a more democratic one.  
 
With our world evolving into such a technologically advanced society, people=
 would rather spend 10 dollars to go see CGI on the big screen than pay 20 t=
o 100 something to see live actors.  With levels of communication going=
 from telephones, to faxes to text messaging and picture messaging, I someti=
mes fear we're forgetting how to communicate, how to respond, and how to dea=
l with a live performance in front of us without the safety of a button to s=
top it.  Live theater is dangerous to some people - so they don't go.<B=
R>
 
And it's true; youth is a problem.  More often than not you'll find a v=
ery high percentage of audiences to be senior citizens.  And as our eld=
erly pass on and we move into a new cycle of generations, we may be wonderin=
g where our audiences went.  
 
To quote "A Mid Winter's Tale" (a movie you should definitely watch with thi=
s problem in your mind)  "churches close and theaters close everyday be=
cause finally, people don't want them anymore - they're not interested." 
 
So - we have some problems here.  
 
But we also have this:  we have a theater community here thriving in a=20=
way I don't believe it was 5 years ago.  I left the Cleveland theater s=
cene to go to college in 2000 and came back this year impressed by the devel=
opments.  This list, these new theaters, and older theaters continuing=20=
to grow and advance.  I may be wrong, but I feel like we're still growi=
ng, still expanding, and still should have hope for this community and this=20=
art form. 
 
As for the problem of youth, I use the tobacco company method: get em while=20=
they're young.  There is much to be said for children's theater, teachi=
ng classes and student matinees.  Although some of this may not be the=20=
meaty stuff some of us would like to do all the time, it is too important to=
 ignore.  Start kids early going to the theater or getting involved in=20=
classes.  Start some marketing campaigns targeted at young adults, work=
 with middle school, high schools, day cares . . . These kids that have cell=
 phones at the age of 10, they're our audiences of tomorrow. 
 
There are also a few new companies starting to cater to young adults. =20=
The Bang and the Clatter Theatre (a company I recently did a show with) is a=
 contemporary company having their inaugural season this year.  One of=20=
their aims is to get new, young, non-theater goers in the seats. 
 
It's true, we have an uphill battle.  But theater is still (in my very=20=
opinionated opinion) the rawest, the oldest, (and for this young actor) the=20=
most fufilling are form there is.  Technology may continue to grow and=20=
surpass and find new ways to entertain every man and woman on earth with the=
 push of a button, but in the end people have an innate human desire to want=
 to be told a story.  And that's what we do. 
 
Take heart, Ken.  We're the shamen and the gypsies of the world. =20=
We won't go away. 
 
Alicia Rodis</HTML>

--part1_31e.1c4ef74.3166dbe1_boundary--