Lincoln Center- Over and Done with
So Lincoln Center is all over with. I really had a great time this last week and because I had such a great time I did not blog, I hope you will forgive me loyal readers. This last week we all devolved into teenagers, and basically drank ourselves silly every night. I didn't sleep in my bed or go to sleep before 4 A.M. any time this past week. If you know me this is a radical change. But great fun was had by all.....
So a weeks worth of notes:
Nepotism in the theatre- You don't have to be the best, you have to be the best friend of.
New Plays have a special aura around them when they haven't been produced before. They are viewed as tainted by many theatres their second time around. Kind of a sloppy seconds with plays. 2nd time around- The National New Play Network. Tries to get a second or third production out there so plays aren't saddled with newplay-itis.
Why not Develop Playwrights, instead of developing Plays?
When did the idea of workshop mean mini-rehearsals? Let's treat it like a craftsman's workshop where it's not ready for presentation but is being worked on so that it can be viewed, like a marble block in varying states of being sculpted
Developing a playwright. If a show is developed by a playwright that we don't want to produce they are free to shop that script around, we can even help, but we still maintain the relationship with that playwright because we are developing them and hoping that we get a script that we do like.
Actors are paid as long as they are doing something in the theatre (development, box office, education, etc.) Are free to leave the theatre and work on other shows but their day job is with us, we maintain the relationship with the actor as part of the company and they continue to grow. Win/Win situation. Work gets done, actors at disposal, and Theatre's name is out there for every show the actor does. Actor continues to grow, gets a living wage, and maintains the ability to be a part of a company. A mix between Steppenwolf and The Group Theatre
What would happen if a playwright were given. say $10,000 a year to develop their work in any way they saw fit? They could develop one show or several, they could mount one, or stage read several. The only catch is that all the money must be spent and they have to hire the actors and pay for the production if there is one. Ultimately they are responsible for how their work is treated.
Writers writing a play together based off of another play (shakepeare or Greek say) Each writer does one scene. Not trying to fit in any one style, they cover the entire play as closely as possible.
Montage- cutting up the play to assemble a new play
Could you have a directors montage? Where you have a different director for each scene or section and the Artistic Director acts as a curator to put the show back together in a way that makes sense?
Ask a dramaturg to act as the playwright when you are directing something you have written
Focus your point of view, energy will come from that- Andre Bishop, Artistic Director of Lincoln Center ( by the way he has never directed a show in his life, he is also a dramaturg)
The Necessary Theatre Company's mission statement is to ambiguous
Theatre is not an arena where you can get away with things.
I'm going to do one more blog after this one about Lincoln Center. It is from an amazing talk with Ben Cameron, the former head of Theatre Communications Group. He is the most amazing man I have ever met and he deserves a blog just to himself, and it is loooooong. I felt like my brain was on fire after talking with him. He will blow your mind as well. Incredible ideas and thoughts on how to move theatre forward.
So look for that in the next day or so. Thanks everyone for reading and discussing, means a lot to me. All my best
So a weeks worth of notes:
Nepotism in the theatre- You don't have to be the best, you have to be the best friend of.
New Plays have a special aura around them when they haven't been produced before. They are viewed as tainted by many theatres their second time around. Kind of a sloppy seconds with plays. 2nd time around- The National New Play Network. Tries to get a second or third production out there so plays aren't saddled with newplay-itis.
Why not Develop Playwrights, instead of developing Plays?
When did the idea of workshop mean mini-rehearsals? Let's treat it like a craftsman's workshop where it's not ready for presentation but is being worked on so that it can be viewed, like a marble block in varying states of being sculpted
Developing a playwright. If a show is developed by a playwright that we don't want to produce they are free to shop that script around, we can even help, but we still maintain the relationship with that playwright because we are developing them and hoping that we get a script that we do like.
Actors are paid as long as they are doing something in the theatre (development, box office, education, etc.) Are free to leave the theatre and work on other shows but their day job is with us, we maintain the relationship with the actor as part of the company and they continue to grow. Win/Win situation. Work gets done, actors at disposal, and Theatre's name is out there for every show the actor does. Actor continues to grow, gets a living wage, and maintains the ability to be a part of a company. A mix between Steppenwolf and The Group Theatre
What would happen if a playwright were given. say $10,000 a year to develop their work in any way they saw fit? They could develop one show or several, they could mount one, or stage read several. The only catch is that all the money must be spent and they have to hire the actors and pay for the production if there is one. Ultimately they are responsible for how their work is treated.
Writers writing a play together based off of another play (shakepeare or Greek say) Each writer does one scene. Not trying to fit in any one style, they cover the entire play as closely as possible.
Montage- cutting up the play to assemble a new play
Could you have a directors montage? Where you have a different director for each scene or section and the Artistic Director acts as a curator to put the show back together in a way that makes sense?
Ask a dramaturg to act as the playwright when you are directing something you have written
Focus your point of view, energy will come from that- Andre Bishop, Artistic Director of Lincoln Center ( by the way he has never directed a show in his life, he is also a dramaturg)
The Necessary Theatre Company's mission statement is to ambiguous
Theatre is not an arena where you can get away with things.
I'm going to do one more blog after this one about Lincoln Center. It is from an amazing talk with Ben Cameron, the former head of Theatre Communications Group. He is the most amazing man I have ever met and he deserves a blog just to himself, and it is loooooong. I felt like my brain was on fire after talking with him. He will blow your mind as well. Incredible ideas and thoughts on how to move theatre forward.
So look for that in the next day or so. Thanks everyone for reading and discussing, means a lot to me. All my best
posted by The Necessary Theatre at 7:23 PM
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