This Weekend in the World of Theatre
It’s been a surprisingly interesting weekend in the theatresphere. Here are the two things that caught my eye:
EXIT Stage Left is a new web-series about the fictional Lowry Theatre Company as they produce a play. On their website it is describe this way: “EXIT Stage left is a look at the men and women behind the curtain, from the auditions to opening night, a series with a bit for everyone, comedy, drama and touch of madness all coming from the stages of The Lowry Theater Company.” It’s free, online, and has 2 new webispodes a month (available on the 10th & 25th).
There are already two episodes online and you should definitely check them out if you have ever worked on a play or even seen a play, this is a funny (& only slightly exaggerated) look at what happens before the audience enters the theatre for the first time.
#2 – Portland Center Stage Live-Tweets Apollo
As micro-blogging site Twitter grows in popularity (both within the theatre community and the larger population), its application to the world of theatre is continuing to be explored. Personally I’ve been using Twitter and the #theatre group to connect with theatre artists & theatre lovers around the world, as well as “live-tweeting” shows that I’ve been working on. This weekend, Portland Center Stage invited a group of their twitter friends to sit in the balcony and tweet their responses to the show.
Looking over the comments from these audience members, a lot of it is criticism of the show, and a lot of it is inside comments – things that unless you’ve seen the show don’t make a whole lot of sense.
But this excersize has certainly gotten the twitter theatre community talking about what role twitter could play in upcoming productions. Is there a way for audiences to live tweet a show & somehow use that as a part of the play? Would guided questions for your live-tweet audience members help the responses to make more sense? One friend suggested using it poll audiences & get fast feedback.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Quantum Theatre in Pittsburgh did something like what your talking about. There’s an article in LIVE DESIGN magazine about how they incorporated audience comments into a production of Shakespearre’s Cymbeline.
http://livedesignonline.com/theatre/caution_robotic_technology_1108/index.html