WhatsOnStage.com: Theatre is often said to be alchemical. Sometimes, somehow, something just clicks and a show exceeds the expectations of anyone involved. It might be a matter of a play hitting its moment. It could be chemistry: the right mix of people in the right rehearsal conditions. A single, serendipitous lightning bolt of an idea can crack it.
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Art is on of those things that can be improved endlessly with just the edition of time. In my experience, an artist never sees complete satisfaction in their work, they just nit pick at the tiny flaws and wish they had had more time to make it better. Fortunately, the existence of deadlines makes the artistic process come to an end so we do not dilly dally over every detail forever, but it leaves us with a twinge of dissatisfaction forever. Theatre is no exception. What Trueman says is indubitably true: "For better and for worse, no theatremaker ever has complete control of what they're making. That's art. It's not an exact science." My TD and I would add little details to the set as the show continued to run because it would just feel like it was missing something. The professional world, however, is not this forgiving. Not much can be changed after opening because of schedules and budgets. It is interesting to see to what length some "theatremakers" do try to make changes with audience reactions and feedback. I think that because theatre is an ever growing industry, a piece of theatre can never be a finished product because there could always be that one new element or gesture that could change the show. But this is also what makes theatre so thrilling to work with.
This article brings up a very interesting point about theater. The overall question is can theatre ever been a finished product. To me the answer is no. Just because you have reached a deadline does not mean it is finished. I think this is similar to paintings. Are paintings ever a finished product. Everyone person will have a different answer to this question. In theater, after you have your opening night you are not supposed to change the show. However musicals on Broadway do this all the time. Two stories come to my head. For spider-man the book writer wrote a book about what happened, in the book the show opens and the creative team says the show is only 80% done. Thus after opening they keep working on the show. The other story is at lion king they cut one of zuzus song a couple years ago. This show has been opened for years. Both of these Shows further my point that theatre will never be a finished product and I don’t think we should strive for it to be.
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