Thursday, April 08, 2010
5 Things I learned about South American theater.
PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: "One of the coolest things about getting to travel to see these productions (besides seeing how each culture tackles this sensitive subject - and yes, there was full-on nudity in the Buenos Aires version of My First Time), is that I'm able to learn a little bit about how each corner of the world tackles theater production."
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6 comments:
It is interested that there is different theatre management method according to the area. Especially, In South America theatre there is late night show such as 9:00pm or midnight. Regional Theatre is related with community life and people's life.
My view on theater is so close-minded since I haven't really been exposed to a lot of theater internationally and have seen a lot of the same type of theater in the U.S. so its really surprising to see the differences. It's unfortunate that theater is so expensive to produce in South America but I imagine that it can present some pretty interesting options in terms of design, having a lower budget isn't necessarily bad, sometimes it can serendipitously result in making more creative solutions for things. Also, it's not that it would bother me to see advertisements before a show, but I like that when I go to a theater, there's something completely different about the experience than going to a movie theater, as if I'm going to see something that is more raw and has not been tainted and commercialized and so it would definitely be different to go to a show with ads like a movie.
This is a fascinating perspective on what works and what doesn't. From this article, it seems that the South American theater scene is thriving. Now, whether or not this is true, we can pick up some of these important facts from it. Sure, its a different culture for the timing and stuff. There's not that much to take away from that. But the revelations about sponsorship are incredible. What can we do to get these companies to give money to US theaters? why are they giving money to South American theaters? Also, the rental of houses is interesting. Why doesn't this model exist in the US? Based on an article last week about Off-Broadway theater slowly dying, why isn't this reinstated to help these theaters succeed?
I think this author is getting at pretty concise and interesting points. One of the three common things he mentions, “It’s hard to get the young audiences to come to the theatre,” is completely true in Japan as well. But in the case of Japan, it is only traditional Japanese theatres not to get the young generation. On the contrary, the musicals of the U.S. touring companies attract usually young people. (They enjoy “watching” and “hearing” American’s performance with subtitles on the tiny screen located at each side of proscenium.)
“Actors are exactly the same, no matter where you are.” This is also understandable. I consider this as the fact that it is hard to train people good enough to perform for the theatre. It is different from acing on TV.
The deal with Playbill about advertising is also new discovery to me. I know thank to unions, theatre designers, actors and workers protect themselves from being exploited by businessmen. But it seems that the U.S. theatre industry is hard to work things out among union contracts.
It is great to hear how another nation runs their theater. I don’t like at all the idea of adds in a theater performance it makes planning very hard. I find it cheap but then again that is a way that they can get the price of tickets down. I like the way in which the house gets its cut of the money/rent I think that the US should start to uses that type of system much like concerts are run. The house does get a piece of every ticket.. The way US theatre works now is great for but over all I feel that the other way is better and creates additional revenue for the theatre. How they change the amount of shows they have to meet the demand is so smart and should be implemented here in the US. I feel that the South American theater is working in the right direction to grow their theatre program..
Reading about how two South American countries handle theater was really interesting to me. It sounds like, in some ways, they're a LOT more business savvy about theater than we are. We've been doing things the same way for so long that maybe we need to be shaken up and adopt some of their practices. I really like the idea of charging a percentage of revenue for a space instead of a flat rent. That way the theaters get more business because they're more affordable, and more shows can be produced because they will actually have a space in which to perform. I'm not sure how I feel about advertising in theaters though. When I see a show, it's a nice escape from a world that is constantly shoving ads down my throat. At the same time, if it can help theater thrive, then I can't really argue.
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