Comments on: Words Matter (The Power of Naming)

By: Just Take Those Old Records Off the Shelf | Cambiare Productions

Just Take Those Old Records Off the Shelf | Cambiare Productions — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:16:27 +0000

[...] theatre bloggers seem to have that flare up pretty consistently. I’ve talked about this before here and there are links over at 2amtheatre.com and at The Next Stage and more if you search the #2amt [...]

By: HIVE 3 and the re-branding of theatre « The Next Stage

HIVE 3 and the re-branding of theatre « The Next Stage — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:28:54 +0000

[...] to tell people what it is we’re selling them when we sell it to them. (Great post by Travis here, talking specificity.) This is an issue of public perception. This is an issue of industry [...]

By: 2am. Thinking outside the black box.

2am. Thinking outside the black box. — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:39:27 +0000

[...] Travis Bedard & Kate Foy on “pronoun trouble.“ No, this isn’t actually about pronouns. But, like Bugs and Daffy arguing about who Elmer gets to shoot and when, the question of what is and is not “indie theatre” gets louder and louder until someone’s beak gets shot off. Travis has offered up a post from his Cambiare Productions blog. Kate has followed suit with an earlier Groundling blog post of her own. The current conversations on Twitter were sparked by the “fighting words” in this blog post. Please note that comments on that post are closed… (And this afternoon, the conversation’s fired up yet again.) [...]

By: nickkeenan

nickkeenan — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:30:34 +0000

Hmm. “Garage theatre” made me think of how “Alternative” music (Alternative to what, now that it's the majority of new music?) has successfully branded itself by embracing a variety of specific genres. You've got “Grunge” theatre and “Death Metal” theatre and “Emo” theatre and “Freaky Folk” theatre

Does more specificity, rather than less, encourage greater participation and appreciation of this medium? The variety is certainly there. And exploration of genre (rather than lumping small-venue itinerant theater into a single label) encourages the values we hold to be self-evident: Risk-taking, tribe-gathering, New-work-trumpeting, community-driven, independantly-curated kinds of work. This is artisanal, small-batch theatre.

Point VERY well taken about “Emerging,” Ian. The more I explore the model of small-venue theater, the more I'm starting to believe that the small venue is the end, the goal. We are emerging to financial sustainability, if anything, but the work just needs to build a following to make that happen.

I have seen “professional” “semi-pro” and “community” primarily used as labels by audience members (and, sadly, intermittently working union hacks who need to defend their financial position with labels – keep in mind I'm saying this as a proud union member) who want to ghettoize theaters on that basis. I'd avoid them like the plague… and I think “independant” may unfortunately support the frame of that ghettoization rather than encouraging patrons to evaluate theater based on delectable traits instead of price tag.

By: nickkeenan

nickkeenan — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:30:34 +0000

By: Travis Bedard

Travis Bedard — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:12:55 +0000

I would call us that, but I think it would probably really annoy those who are making actual Fringe theatre. I don't mind appropriating a little street cred, but I have respect for the true Fringe.

By: Don Hall

Don Hall — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:43:17 +0000

I still prefer “Fringe Theater” but I'm freaking old.

By: Don Hall

Don Hall — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:42:33 +0000

I still prefer “Fringe Theater” but I'm freaking old.

By: djloehr

djloehr — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:23:15 +0000

We go by "professional" here, partly to stay distinct from the various community theatre groups that pop up, flame out and vanish each year. But our actors and designers all have degrees in theatre, most if not all make their living from theatre work or teaching theatre, and all get paid.

We do get grief for not being "open" for auditions to the general community. To which we say, okay, can you close your business for two weeks to go perform halfway across the country? Or a month? No? Can you learn all of your lines and not hold a script for the entire run of the show? (I've seen that happen out here.) No? Okay, well, you've just answered whether we audition or not. This is not our hobby, this is our work.

It's also helped perception in the larger theatre world. The label allows major regional theatres to take us seriously, and the work then bears out that trust.

By: Travis Bedard

Travis Bedard — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:08:40 +0000

Nannette, thanks for stopping by!

The tricky thing here is: You are absolutely right.
But for me in terms of labelling what I do, I needed to shorten up the explanation.

If we have time to have a conversation I'll say indie theatre, but that's simply because that's how I think of it now (I used to say "small theatre" but I didn't like the diminutive) but I get to be more specific.

But in terms of the quick descriptor or the "elevator pitch" version you have to cut it down to as few words as possible.