The Narrow-casting Theatre of Tomorrow
The NEA released a study about declining attendance in American theatres.
I've caught wind of some reaction from within the theatre community suggesting that perhaps the producers and artists have drifted away from the audiences - not the other way around. In conjunction with these trends and ideas has been the rise of the idea of the "consumer" of arts, rather than a patron or audience member.
I dunno - maybe we should just quit doing theatre. I'm sure most of the decline in our audiences is due to the irrelevant matter we've been stuffing down our audiences' maw with nary a soda to wash down the dry, indigestible stuff.
But I'm an optimist - always with a keen eye for the way forward. How about this: we could take after the niche-marketing crowd and narrow-cast - have a play created for every individual that comes to our theatre.
Let's call our patron Mr. Art C. Onsumer. The play can be about the more interesting and palatable parts of Mr. Onsumer's life and fantasies, feature products and lifestyles that he endorses (information about which we will solicit via an e-mail survey before he sees the performance), and end the way that is that best affirms for Mr. Onsumer's weltanschauung.
In the narrow-casting theatre of Tomorrow, the most in-demand theatre companies will come to your home and do the performance in your living room; the most loved directors will allow the viewer to pause the action when the phone rings or nature calls. Like reality TV, we can probably do away with writers altogether, and have Mr. Onsumer and his family yell imperatives at the performers, who will comply with grace and wit. Of course, we'll have to make sure that Mr. Onsumer and his children can co-create the experience by joining the performers when the spirit moves them.
Maybe the NEA can just give out free boxes of Cranium or Pictionary to every family. Because a great nation deserves great board games.
I've caught wind of some reaction from within the theatre community suggesting that perhaps the producers and artists have drifted away from the audiences - not the other way around. In conjunction with these trends and ideas has been the rise of the idea of the "consumer" of arts, rather than a patron or audience member.
I dunno - maybe we should just quit doing theatre. I'm sure most of the decline in our audiences is due to the irrelevant matter we've been stuffing down our audiences' maw with nary a soda to wash down the dry, indigestible stuff.
But I'm an optimist - always with a keen eye for the way forward. How about this: we could take after the niche-marketing crowd and narrow-cast - have a play created for every individual that comes to our theatre.
Let's call our patron Mr. Art C. Onsumer. The play can be about the more interesting and palatable parts of Mr. Onsumer's life and fantasies, feature products and lifestyles that he endorses (information about which we will solicit via an e-mail survey before he sees the performance), and end the way that is that best affirms for Mr. Onsumer's weltanschauung.
In the narrow-casting theatre of Tomorrow, the most in-demand theatre companies will come to your home and do the performance in your living room; the most loved directors will allow the viewer to pause the action when the phone rings or nature calls. Like reality TV, we can probably do away with writers altogether, and have Mr. Onsumer and his family yell imperatives at the performers, who will comply with grace and wit. Of course, we'll have to make sure that Mr. Onsumer and his children can co-create the experience by joining the performers when the spirit moves them.
Maybe the NEA can just give out free boxes of Cranium or Pictionary to every family. Because a great nation deserves great board games.
Obviously, customers are not getting what they need. I think fear causes people to want a personal, social experience without the risks associated with actually being personal and social. To date movies and television were the best alternatives. But now, technology has really started to deliver. Think about the popularity of texting, Facebook, online gaming, and anonymous blog comment rants and flames. Compared to these activities, live theatre is risky business. What if the subject matter is uncomfortable? What if an actor flubs his lines, or the performance just sucks? There is a chance one could be embarrassed for the participants. It's funny to watch a ridiculous video on YouTube, but the experience is much different when you're there in person. What advantages does theatre have over the paradoxical trend of personal impersonality?
ReplyDeleteHaving been personally embarrassed for many performers and performances, I distinctly feel that pain.
ReplyDeleteAs in many ventures, the lower the risk, the lower the potential payoff. Passively (or semi passively) engaging in anonymous (or semi anonymous) social activities is very very easy, but the potential level of personal, social, and spiritual fulfillment is quite low.
Live performance can and does often fall flat, but those of us who purvey and promote it do so because we believe that the ultimate experience an audience and performer can have is to be changed by the experience in a fundamental way - we believe that live performance can and should personally and spiritually transformative.
Personal impersonality both affirms your own perspectives while turning them inexorably into an amalgam of everyone's perspective - a sort of cultural regression toward the mean. Being part of an audience of a live performance performs a paradoxical reversal: it forges you into a cohesive social unit while driving you to form a unique and highly personal perspective of a shared experience.
I had a thought that the subject of my earlier comment is only a symptom of a larger demographic issue. The last time I went to a play, a symphony concert, or a dance performance the median age of the audience was probably 55-60. In my experience, young people often attend because they have friends in the performance, or they're accompanying their parents or grandparents. What are the performing arts doing to make their products more relevant and appealing to younger generations? This will become a huge issue as the generational cycle progresses.
ReplyDeleteWith so many aspects of the world vying for my dollar, why should I spend a bunch on an activity that makes me: 1. Leave my home, 2. Battle traffic, 3. Dress-up, 4. Visible for others to judge 5. Not take photos or videos to remember or replay the performance, 6. Sit in a chair for a long time without a pee-break, 7. Not drink, 8. Turn off my cell phone, 9. Clap, 10. Concentrate 11. Battle traffic home.
ReplyDeleteHere-here to the future of performances in the home that cost $1 and where I can yell out the plot and lines to the cast!