Thursday, September 10, 2009
Off the wall — literally
Berkeley Rep Blog: "Before and after performances of American Idiot at the Roda Theatre, you'll find a crowd of people in the lobby writing on the wall. Not to worry, they're all scribbling on the graffiti wall specifically designed to showcase their thoughts, emotions, and messages. Reading the wall, we found that audiences members had come from as far as New York, Denver, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, Texas, and Washington, D.C., to see the first previews."
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13 comments:
I think this is an interesting concept, but misused. Reading through the examples of comments, it seemed that they were all mini reviews of the show, and not something of real emotional value. I think it would be more interesting if the used graffiti wall was somehow incorporated into the show itself.
I would have to disagree. I think the simplest comments and thoughts express the most powerful emotions. Sometimes you just need one word, and I think this is a beautiful way of expressing enthusiasm towards the show, and in turn inspiring the cast and creative team to keep working hard. I would feel truly gratified to be working behind this show and reading those comments. Also, as a fan of the theatre, this idea of writing down one's thoughts where the creators can see it hits home. Getting an actor's autograph after a show and telling them they did a great job doesn't do much. This, however, makes an impact. It reflects the best part about the theatre: the emotional satisfaction it brings the people involved, and by involved I mean the audience as well as the cast and creative team. It's really an awesome idea
I think this is a fun idea, and a nice way to get the audience involved in the show, even if it is not technically incorporated into the show itself. This show had a few weeks of closed workshops this summer where I worked in upstate NY and was the show's last stop before it went to Berkley. I was skeptical then about what a Green Day musical would do for the world, but from what this Graffiti wall tells us, this show suddenly means a lot to so many people. I have to agree with Sharisse that sometimes "the simplest comments and thoughts express the most powerful emotions." The wall is great.
I'm sure this is fun for the audience but if this was going on during previews then they're doing the producers an extra service. They're giving (granted not the most useful form of) feedback about how they liked the show. It also allows people who may love Green Day and never would have gone to see a musical without that draw the chance to really feel connected with the work.
I agree with Sarah. Great idea but a little misused and misrepresnted. By leaving that they can now grab the quotes that praise the show, while the bad quotes go unshown/unrepresented. And this was after the invited audience left the theater, so it would interest me what a real audience would think.
And I love sarah's idea of somehow incorporating thing into the show itself.
It is nice place for feedback. But it is unrealistic to think that you will get a full perspective. The only people who will be driven to write will be people who loved it or people who hated it. And considering it is the first few performances most of the people who are there probably love Greenday. I hope that the show is that good!
It is nice place for feedback. But it is unrealistic to think that you will get a full perspective. The only people who will be driven to write will be people who loved it or people who hated it. And considering it is the first few performances most of the people who are there probably love Greenday. I hope that the show is that good!
It's not so much that people who love or hate the show would be the only ones to comment, you get the people who only want to write or draw on the wall to say that they wrote or drew on the wall at American Idiot... to any length, I would be very interested to see them use this wall in the show itself, perhaps as a backdrop to some scene or even possibly as a main curtain? It would look very interesting, and I love it when shows intrinsically involve their audience in the show. I remember the article from last week about the A.R.T. putting up a show that uses patron's random junk to decorate it, and I commented there that the audience feels that extra little bond with the show, like they are truly a part of it.
It's also the perfect medium for expressing the teenage rebel mood that the AI team is looking to capture. If this show moves into a more permanent space (read: -shudder- Broadway), expect there to be solid black walls in the lobby and TONS of sharpies hanging all over the place.
Overall, I feel this is a good idea. I feel that while, yes, the wall can be used by people who just want to say they wrote on the wall or write or draw obscene things, but it can also be a great means of communication from audience to the production. I believe that many times the audience is not given a open and convenient way to communicate thier ideas and thoughts about the production to them and this would provide a great dialoque between the two.
Clever things like this, however simple, sometimes make a very big difference on audience perception. if it improves the experience of going to the theatre, it makes the theatre more valuable and connects more with the audience. While we are often tempted to discount these things as thin marketing plans, the should be respected to some extent as important to the effectiveness of the theatre. All the same, maybe they should have picked some more personal quotes from the comments, I'm sure the comments were a bit more colorful than what they presented.
I think this is wonderful. It lets the audience do something to feel part of the show more than just paying money to be entertained. People like senses of community and the inclusion an activity like this gives.
This entire concept reminds me of my visit to the Smithsonian two years ago. The modern art wing was fascinating and really amazing to walk through, but tucked in a corner was a guest book that people could write in. Flipping through it, the human interaction embodied there was almost more interesting and moving than the art. People had conversations with each other, discussed artwork, made political statements, and sent feelers out for human contact and love. It was fascinating. In the context of this show, the board is used in a much more specific fashion but I can't help but feeling it contributes to the emotional response of the show itself.
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