tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523052989559606758.post1915083012194962204..comments2023-06-05T08:05:37.161-04:00Comments on The CoLab Theatre: Controversy In Boston!The Collaborative Process Theatre Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12370469019895665864noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523052989559606758.post-49888480232034414602011-06-28T12:09:47.747-04:002011-06-28T12:09:47.747-04:00I think John is correct that the real problem is n...I think John is correct that the real problem is not cliques but infrastructure: rehearsal spaces, black box theatre spaces, et cetera. More infrastructure creates more opportunity. In a city were the opportunities are scarce, why wouldn't companies look out for their hardworking friends?<br /><br />Last time I was in Washington, D.C., for instance, a city with a very good theatre infrastructure, I attended a workshop, and afterwards, a director who was also attending immediately approached me about auditioning for a production she was working on (as well as wondering why she hadn't seen me before on local stages.)<br /><br />Sadly, I had to explain that I would be returning to Boston in a couple of days. The show ended up getting great reviews too and sounds like something I'd have been proud to have been involved in.<br /><br />Mind you, this isn't because I'm some sort of star talent-- I'm not-- but the point is that the sheer amount of infrastructure given over to theatre in that city, makes it possible for a director to make those sorts of bold moves regarding casting (like snatching actors straight out of a workshop.)Ian Thalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348768867561450314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523052989559606758.post-30917856814222477202011-06-28T11:52:36.275-04:002011-06-28T11:52:36.275-04:00Having only been here nine months, I must be excee...Having only been here nine months, I must be exceedingly lucky in this 'clique-y' theatre scene. I've done two shows, am rehearsing my third, just booked my fourth, and am on the Exec board of an arts advocacy group.<br /><br />Then again, I'm older than your average 20-something, I've got a terminal fine arts degree and a pretty hefty resume. And I'm Non-Equity (EMC).<br /><br />It is an adjustment coming to this city, where "non-Equity" is usually synonymous with "unpaid," and we typically squat in classrooms at BU or MIT for rehearsals.<br /><br />We definitely have a deep talent pool, though I wish there was more to attract/retain talented people. If Boston had a couple more blackboxes (close to the T in decent areas), things could be so different. Groups could do longer runs, attract more audience, make enough $$ to actually pay actors/crew, etc.<br /><br />I'm working on that.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12011617359734000043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523052989559606758.post-29832031972754371412011-06-28T09:20:15.129-04:002011-06-28T09:20:15.129-04:00When I first moved to Boston a couple of years ago...When I first moved to Boston a couple of years ago, I definitely found it more than difficult to ingratiate myself into the theater scene. To a certain extent I still do. But that's the nature of the beast. Theater, no matter where you are, is hard. The guy in the Stage Source Article referred to the Boston Theater Scene as "clique-y." Maybe life, in some aspects, is just a continuation of high school. But, what are you supposed to do, just sit around your friends basement, sneaking nips from their parents liquor and watching Family Guy DVD's (Just so you know, that is not, in any way, what my experience of high school was like . . . not remotely . . .)? If you're not invited to the party, throw your own party, because chances are, there's a lot of people looking to do something on a Saturday night just like you.<br /><br />MaxGabe Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00450846583067939917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523052989559606758.post-20482233512210859772011-06-24T14:57:08.979-04:002011-06-24T14:57:08.979-04:00Seriously though, as someone who is apparently kno...Seriously though, as someone who is apparently known for stirring up controversies, I'm not actually clear on the nature of the controversy: different companies have different positions regarding core-company and outside collaborators. Always have. Generally speaking, companies as they become established do develop a more solid (i.e. predictable) core. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule-- and of course, the whole reason the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston was formed was because there were a large number of small companies and individual artists that were being underserved by StageSource. There's always someone being underserverd and just as there are strong arguments that the underserved should be served, there are also valid arguments for maintaining long term collaborations.<br /><br />Bottom line is that we all negotiate these problems in the arts. I have been on the scene for over a decade mostly doing things that make most "Fringe" companies look mainstream in venues that make the Factory Theatre look swanky, and I can count on one hand the number of times people really "gave me a chance" for those first several years. Yes, I grumbled a lot. But I also wonder how much of this is a tempest in a teapot.<br /><br />It's like Mat Smart's <a href="http://www.howlround.com/2011/03/20/the-real-reasons-playwrights-fail-by-mat-smart/" rel="nofollow">recent post to <i>HowlRound</i></a>: Sure it was self-serving and ignored his class privileges as an MFA-approved playwright, but a.) he was right that a lot of playwrights are intellectually and creatively lazy; and b.) it was one of the few times <i>HowlRound</i> was actually engaging reading (mostly it's just a lot of navel gazing by playwrights and artistic directors.)<br /><br />As for me, I have a few more idols to defile.Ian Thalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348768867561450314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523052989559606758.post-51228960483755943552011-06-24T13:59:30.826-04:002011-06-24T13:59:30.826-04:00This is such an interesting conversation to have g...This is such an interesting conversation to have going on right now. Not because the original letter was particularly perceptive or well-constructed or revelatory or anything, but because it seems to have touched so many raw nerves and pre-existing concerns, and brought a lot of smaller conversations and gripes that had been happening around in the corners of our little community out on to the mainstage for a bit.<br /><br />It's particularly interesting to me because within Flat Earth lately we've been having a related conversation from a different direction -- the question of what priorities and privileges we as an organization owe our 16 company members, and what obligations and restrictions that would place on our 16 company members and other folks who work with us. We have a very solid, very long-standing policy AGAINST pre-casting and priority-casting, which has recently come under scrutiny from within the company as some members feel they are denied the casting security that members of other companies in the community are getting.<br /><br />I know some of the companies in the STAB community have official "core casts" (though I'm not quite sure what that entails in regard to the casting of individual shows), while others seem to be regularly precasting out of an unofficial, but certainly limited, pool of actors they've previously worked with. That seems to be the kind of policy StageSource's anonymous critic was objecting to -- but on the other hand, are we, who reserve the right for our directors to cast a full set of "fresh faces" if they so choose, mistreating our in-company actors by NOT precasting?<br /><br />I don't know. I'm sticking to my guns at the moment, and the guns I am sticking to are the conviction that we-as-a-company should not infringe on the artistic freedom of individual directors to cast what they see as the best-fitting actors for the show. So far this has meant open auditions, but as we work with an increasingly wide director pool (we have two guest directors from outside the company coming in next season, which is a first for us) we may encounter directors who would prefer to precast. And what will we do then?<br /><br />I have a suspicion we'll all keep having this conversation, from its various angles, for years and years to come.<br /><br />~ c.Corianahttp://www.flatearththeatre.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523052989559606758.post-72739313418622252002011-06-24T12:44:38.552-04:002011-06-24T12:44:38.552-04:00Be like Ian Thal or Thomas Garvey, and HAVE SOME B...<i> Be like Ian Thal or Thomas Garvey, and HAVE SOME BALLS! Nevermind what you think about their opinions, these dudes are heard and people take them seriously.</i><br /><br />Awesome! It's always been my aspiration to have my balls feature in discussions about Boston theatre!Ian Thalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348768867561450314noreply@blogger.com