Los Angeles Times: On the heels of its wildly successful interactive magic and storytelling show “The Present,” the Geffen Playhouse is expected to announce Tuesday the next slate of online productions in its popular Geffen Stayhouse series, including a follow-up magic show called “The Future.”
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These pieces of “virtual” theatre seem to be hitting the points some performances I’ve read elsewhere on this blog as missing. The idea that “Audience interaction and an intimate sense of community” are key in trying to reshape theatre in this new world I think are essential. One of theatre-iest parts of theatre is being in the theatre space with other people and being a part of that community, and Stayhouse productions have taken that note truly to heart. I think that while this approach to theatre does not bode well for those like myself, who dislike participating in a piece with audience interaction normally, this set up gets at the community aspect much more than a recording does. However, I worry about the high ticket price point. I totally understand that the services these productions are providing – boxes of props and ingredients sent to your door – are costly, having tickets on the low end cost $55 or $85 cuts a lot of people out from seeing these shows. The positive is that this is a household cost so maybe you and your four roommates could see this for $11 each, but this is something to consider in the long run.
This is SO interesting!! I love cooking and I love theatre. The level of interaction is also so fun to me. I would love to work a production that has that level of connection with the audience. And creating this connection is even more difficult with COVID and with virtual theatre. They’re not revealing much, but this quote: “But the theater did say the show will be more technically and narratively ambitious, with a type of choose-your-own-adventure element” excites me deeply. What does bring me a bit down though is the price of the ticket. $85-95. That’s fairly high. Especially for something that is not even in-person. I was really hoping that with virtual productions and digitally producing theatre that we can make it cheaper and more accessible to lower income families. I don’t particularly want to spend nearly a hundred dollars on a virtual show, and I know parents of young theatre lovers probably wont want to either. But still, this show is definitely something worth looking into.
As I was reading this I kept wondering, “What sets this apart from an escape room, or a cooking class?” And I still don’t really have an answer. Without having seen the shows, I can’t identify any characteristic about them that sets them apart. I’m sure “Bollywood Kitchen” is very monologue-esque and almost like a one man show, with food bridging the virtual divide. But “Citizen Detective” sounds suspiciously like a virtual escape room. With no script or actors, the quality of the experience is so dependent on the individual that I would hesitate to call it a performance. Of course I don’t want to invalidate the experience in any way - it sounds incredibly fun. But I am just facing the question I face for Newsquiz every week: “Is it theater?” Either way, I guess it doesn't matter. If it brings joy during this wacky time, it deserves to exist. It doesn't really matter whether I decide it is or is not “theater.”
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