Saturday, January 24, 2015
Bringing Theatre into the Digital Age
HowlRound: While theatres struggle throughout America, London has embraced the digital age by distributing theatre productions online by streaming to movie theaters and through digitaltheatre.com. By bringing American theatre into the digital age, we can create a larger market for productions and artists. Why hasn’t the US theatre community caught up and done this? Our licensing and union restrictions that prevent film distribution were put in place with the best of intentions, but are now holding the theatre industry back.
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4 comments:
I think showing theater as a movie is a really interesting idea, I know one of the reasons I didn’t see much theatre as a kid was because it was so expensive and you could easily watch a movie, not only once, but over and over. And this brings me to my other point, one of the great things about theatre is that every production is slightly different and it is one of the reasons I think people go see plays- you never know what you are really going to get. And when you decide to film one of those productions it takes some of that away. However, I for one would love if I could find theatrical productions online if only to get more exposure on more plays that I normally would not be able to see either because of location or money. I especially agree with the author’s point about wanting to see theatre late at night when there are no showings or wanting to support a production that is just simply too far away.
I have said several times on the green page before that I really like what the Met and the productions of Warhorse have done in terms of broadcasting theater to a film audience. I don’t know how successful this model of filmed theater productions would be, I think a good indicator would be to see how well the independent rent-a-film TV app business are doing. This model that she proposed here sounds most similar to those kinds of marks where you pay ~$10 to rent a movie for the evening for a few days, and you can watch it in the comfort of your own home. However if there is a market for this kind of thing, I think it would really be a good thing for the theater. The other concern that I have is that it would loose its intimacy, and all of the things that make it specifically theater. Theater, such as warhorse, I don’t believe would just be the same on the screen as they are on stage. But with proper filming techniques and detail paid attention to, I think this could be a really cool opportunity.
I have mixed opinions on this idea but I believe that if implemented, it would save the art of theatre. I live right next to NYC, so going to a show was never difficult, but it’s just not affordable. I can pay ten dollars a month for unlimited movies, but not two hundred a night for a production. If filmed versions were available on Netflix, I would definitely watch more shows. That’s the same problem that most people have with theatre. It’s just too expensive unless you are upper/upper middle class. My only issue with this idea is how would it be filmed? If there were cameras onstage, I would never actually go to see a show because that would distract me. Would it be a low quality camera in the back like all of the bootleg Broadway shows I’ve seen on YouTube? Also acting for film and theatre are different, so how would that affect the actors? I really would love to see this idea looked at further, but there is a lot of thought process that must go into it.
Broadcasting theater online sounds like a strange move to me. On one hand performances could reach more audiences, ticket sales could rise if online viewers paid to stream live performances online, and viewers could watch performances all over the world, but the biggest issue I see is that streaming theater may somehow distort what theater really is. To me theater is astounding first and foremost because being as an audience member you gain a real tangible experience. Being in the same room, breathing the same air as the actors creates that sensation that brings theater to life. Without that connection of physical space performances don’t have the same intimate structure they deserve. I do see why streaming would be great for creating exposure, and that should be commended, I’m just unsure whether or not theater should sacrifice connection for exposure. Perhaps it should, either way I think most Broadway shows would be too elitist to allow this kind of streaming occur since the exclusiveness of a good show is what allows them to drive ticket prices up and fill seats night after night.
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