“Tennessee Williams once sat right there, and Chazz Palminteri acted here,” he said. “This place has it all. This place is great!”
Tuesday, September 05, 2017
The Little Theater That Could
“Tennessee Williams once sat right there, and Chazz Palminteri acted here,” he said. “This place has it all. This place is great!”
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This article gave me great insight into just how large and widespread the world of theatre really is. When people think about the theatre industry, many of their minds go straight to New York City, however not many minds go to the world of Off-Off Broadway in tiny little theatres on 13th street. The most interesting line in this article to me was the quote from author Albert Poland in which he said of the 13th Street Repertory, "'It was theatre for its own sake'". To me, this is an important thing to remember right now. Even though it is great that plays and musicals like Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen have made theatre more accessible to a major public audience, I think that we are starting to forget about the kinds of theatre that are purely artistic. All theatre does not need to be major or mainstream, but instead we need a variety of types of theatre, and I think that is what 13th Street Repertory is striving to do.
One line that struck me was when Mr. Battista said: “Theater is dangerous,”. This line is so important especially now. It is a good reminder how powerful art should be. In such a challenging time, we need to use our shows/art to inspire and create change to get stuff done. Another thing that struck me is how influential a founder of a theatre is to style of the art. I guess I thought a lot more about what shows the theatre produced and the whole creative team forming the theatre's style but clearly, the style of Edith bleeds through the theatre and makes the theatre tick or not tick. Edith's life controls how the theatre indirectly, which struck me greatly. Lastly, I was struck by Mr. Harlen's story. Theatre vividly is shown as a life saver as it is in many people's lives. A theatre is meant to bring people together and Edith taking Mr. Harlen in shows how important compassion is in theatre. Mr. Harlen is quite literally saved by the theatre but it makes me think back to why so many of my fellow freshman DPs are here. Most of the stories somewhere along the way say "theatre saved me" or "if it wasn't for theatre. This theatre is a great reminder of how important theatre is and I truly feel so much for the 13th Street Repertory theatre. This article shows very tangibly how powerful theatre is and how necessary it is.
I really appreciated that this article emphasized that a theater does not need to by putting on the biggest and most mainstream shows to be successful. At its core, I believe that the goal of any performance art is to impact its audience; this can be done through the teaching of a message, the telling of a story, or simply evoking a powerful emotion. Small spaces are massively underestimated in terms of the community that they inspire. To those that value the up close and truly moving styles of theatre, these spaces become sort of like a home in which they can explore all the complicated and raw messages that are being told. My favorite portion of this article was about the six tenants living above the theatre. Described as “the cast of an eccentric, bohemian sitcom family”, you can feel the life that they breathe into the space. It is largely their doing that the13th Street Repertory Theatre is such a community.
The effects this small theatre company had on a larger world is a key reason why all theatre is so impactful and so important. Theatre is important because of the community it inspires, the diversity it upkeeps, and the emotion it provokes. I know for me, the most I have learned from theatre is not from the shows I've done or the trials and tribulations that came along with them, but from the community I found within theatre and the ways each individual I have had the opportunity to work with has inspired me and shaped my work into something new. The eccentric individuals that have come through the 13th Street Repertory Theatre- whether it be the struggling artists from decades ago or the tenants that still live there today- were able to push the boundaries and open doors to new possibilities while inspiring each other to do the same. The reason I personally love theatre and art is because of theatre companies like 13th Street Rep, who pride themselves on the community they build and the raw art they produce.
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