Off Stage Conversations

Hello, it’s Andie Arthur, executive director of the South Florida Theatre League, with Off Stage Conversations, showcasing the important articles and discussions about theatre administration and the state of the art, as well as national and international theatre news.

YOUNGER AUDIENCES

Christine Dolen for the Miami Herald writes on attracting younger audiences, featuring three Theatre League member theatres, The Naked Stage, The Alliance Theatre Lab, and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. I think Nathan Allen hits the most salient point: content. If you aren’t telling stories that interest younger audiences, why expect them to come? We don’t get angry when older audiences don’t attend children’s theatre – so why resent younger audiences for not connecting with material that doesn’t speak to them?

BRANDING AND BRAND EXTENTIONS

Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune has an interesting article on branding and brand extensions for theatre companies. It’s an interesting concept for some of our larger and mid-size theatres looking to expand their audiences, but who don’t want to alienate their current core.

THE DEFINITION OF BEAUTY

Polly Carl has a piece out on how we define beauty or specifically, quality theatre. She looks at who controls the definition and the intersection of taste assumptions and class. It’s pretty dense academic writing, but I love that she’s asking these questions.

MORE ON PROGRAMS

The Guardian has another piece out on subverting the use of programs – if a dramatis personae gives away too many spoilers, how should you handle it? I’ve been to a few performances where programs were distributed after the show, which is one way of handling it. Or a producer can make use of misinformation.

HEALTH BENEFITS

TCG has a posted their survey results on the state of health benefits for the industry.

PRACTICAL CONCERNS VS. PASSION

Brandon Walker talks about the current state of Off-Off Broadway and how the most exciting work he sees is either on a community theatre level (full of passion) or at the highest professional level (full of money) – and asks what can be done to alter that. While most of his concerns speak directly to his NYC experience, we ought to be looking at how can we better the artistic experience as well as looking at all the budgeting concerns.

DEATH OF A CUT SALESMAN

The Wall Street Journal talks about a recent Australian production of Death of a Salesman getting busted for copyright infringement, and how protective should copyright owners of classic work be with the script and new interpretations.

NATIONAL PLAYWRITING MONTH

Have you ever wanted to write a play and just needed an excuse? Here’s an excuse – November is National Playwriting Month (along with doubling as National Novel Writing Month).

I’ll be back next week in a post-election haze. Hopefully a happy haze. Happy Halloween Everyone!