Hello All!
As moderator I have decided I can jump in and randomly post sometimes. Who's gonna stop me??? MUUUHAHAHAHAH!
Anyway, I thought this was fascinating and relevant:
http://theatreideas.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-tribalism-and-theatre.html
Enjoy!
Stacy
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7 comments:
The link won't work, Stacy. :(
I cannot figure out this Blog technology. I try to post a link and the link does not show up. This makes me sad. And angry at Blogger. GRRR BLOGGER. WHY DO YOU HATE ME!?!?! Anyway, you can cut and paste into your browser bar for now and any blog savvy individual out there, please drop me a line and tell me how to post a link.
I've always kind of seen theatre as this crazy little tribe...I mean, as actors, when we're a part of a production or some company, it's impossible not to develop tribe-like qualities among yourselves. But I loved the paragraph talking about how money-making can't be the sole object of the tribe. Part of that almost seems like an oxymoron: as actors, we need money and income to sustain a living, but as soon as making that money because more important than making the art, the art suffers for it. And that's probably one of the hardest aspects of theatre: surviving financially. We can't all jump right out of college and right into a 10-year contract in NYC doing Broadway shows (though I wish it was that simple!). That's one of the most frustrating parts of this business...
As an educator, I struggle with the issue Sam brought up. If I was teaching accounting, I could say without a doubt, "If you get good grades, pass the CPA exam, and have a nice cover letter and resume, you will get a job as an accountant." But in the theatre, the craft of acting and the business of acting feel like two very different things. I feel like in the past century, the Arts were pushed into a traditional business hierarchy that is just not a good fit for artists and making art. And yet, I believe artists should be able to sustain themselves doing what they were trained to do. This "new tribalism" idea presents an interesting alternative.
Iam a bit confused about the whole "tribe" idea. Is it saying everyone in the company is working together as a unit; doing all of the necessary jobs, helping eachother out, and focusing soley on making the best art possible? If that is the case, it sounds wonderful, but unrealistic that there are theaters out there that are actually run like this! It does seem like it would be tough to balance art and business when you get into the real world-but this "art only" idea dosent really seem like it would make producers who are worried about ticket sales and pumping out a show as fast as possible very happy!
It is my understanding that the "tribe" model of theatre-making is a possible ALTERNATIVE to the current traditional business model of the theatre-making. I agree 100% that there are very few traditional producers out there who would be on board with this sort of model, but I think it is interesting to consider alternatives theatre artists may have to the current traditional artistic business model. That as actors, we don't HAVE to simply hope someone casts us, that we can be PART of the on-going creative process. Of course, can we sustain ourselves on such a model? I don't know. Currently it is gosh darn almost impossible, without finding other sources for primary income, but I feel/hope that we are on the brink of change. And if more and more artists begin to make work outside of the traditional business heiracry, maybe we can begin to morph into something new.
A different, yet related blog entry about Art as a place for people to connect to each other. "Art as a Hub". Do people come to a theater to see art or to connect to each other? Perhaps both? The blogger asks "in the future the arts organizations that thrive will be the ones most skilled at turning their audience from an unrelated group of people into a community." -kat (from Strawdog)
(copy and paste into your browser)
http://missionparadox.typepad.com/the_mission_paradox_blog/2008/01/art-as-the-hu-1.html
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