Friday, November 26, 2021
Where’s the Brief?
ASTC: In North America, theatre consultants are often introduced to a prospective new project via a Request for Proposal – typically, a voluminous package of information that was prepared and circulated by a government or private purchasing authority for the purpose of inviting potential design firms to submit bids on the job, with the hope of being short-listed, and eventually – hopefully – designing the project.
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This is a little out of my area of expertise, but it seems compelling. I can't imagine why the listings for such large projects as venue construction wouldn't list the broadest information of why something is being built and what the actual requirements are. So often, in any specialized work, when we ask for something, we often don't know what we are asking for. The immediate example that comes to mind is what I've often heard theatrical designers refer to as 'director speak,' when the director asks for one thing but actually wants something else, or what they asked for doesn't make any sense. It's an important cultivated skill for designers to understand what directors actually want and what they are trying to ask for when they may not be well versed in the designer's field. This applies really for any job. Designers must interpret what a stage manager is asking for in a rehearsal report, and directors must interpret what designers need when they sometimes are thinking or speaking too technically. The same goes for building designs, and owners should trust consultants to figure out the details, explaining what they actually need and why rather than getting lost in the details.
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