My view from Seattle: theatre, life, soul and stuff.

I’ll post some photos, as good as I can given that I’m a blog-site novice!

Also the show continues to acquire glowing reviews and very, very engaged audiences who express praise for the show and personal stories. A couple expressed their great appreciation of the play to Pam, and then briefly summarized their own family’s experience with a priest who abused a family member. For them the play was cathartic and redemptive. It’s very humbling and astounding to help people resolve their personal pain.

DOUBT is in its second week and has been a hit with the critics of our two daily newspapers. That’s tremendously affirming for the actors, designers, crew and myself — now to see how audiences respond. And buy tickets. Hmm: why is the box office phone a tad too silent for a critical hit?

It’s amazing to have over half the audience stay for a post-performance Q&A. The hands shoot up fast for questions and comments as rapidly as I point someone out. But why was the theatre only 60% full to start with? (or on that night at least)

Is it a good show?

Will we meet our budget goals?

Therein lies the double-mindedness that artist/producers grapple with: maintaining integrity of artistic mission and keeping an eye on the box office stats. Taproot Theatre Company is no different in this regard: my peers at other Seattle theatres (and those across the country and up in Canada) sweat the details of Art & Dollars or run the peril of being financially kaput and gone. We don’t create in an environment of being entitled with vast financial underwriting. Artistic Risk - which is important to foster new work, nurture young talent and invest in mature talent, respond to a changing world, and to keep the audience’s imagination and spirit lively - is mostly burdened by that last word: RISK.

What’s to be done? Is imaginative, invigorating, “new”, challenging and vital theatre doomed to minuscule audiences (and ticket income)?

My insight, for now, is the need to create a community that will allow for risk: Artistic and Financial. Not irresponsibility or vanity though. Within the context of subscribers and financial donors, we need to strengthen a sense of mutual Trust and Loyalty. Presumably they’ve chose this theatre (i.e. Taproot Theatre Company) with some assumptions about artistic quality, mission, core values, and the performance experience. Have we educated them as to who we are and what we stand for? If we give our audiences our best shots at respect, creativity and quality, I think they’ll allow for the occasional play they didn’t care for - let alone the one(s) we think misfired! - and remain committed subscribers and donors. It’s a different scenario, less transactional and more relational.

In the meantime…you’ll find me at the shows of DOUBT whenever I can make it, talking in the lobby with our patrons, and thanking them for taking a risk on Taproot Theatre Company.

PS: DOUBT is a beauty of a play and the audiences are enjoying the performances and leaving pleased, challenged and chatty!! I’m proud of the cast and crew’s hard work and commitment to serve our audiences.  It’s a night out that proves how powerful and illuminating good theatre really is.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2004317774_zart31doubt.html

Above is the link to the first review; the writer came Saturday night and, although I wasn’t present, I understand it was a solid show. The review is also a good one (whew!) and so we’ll see it translates into box office sales…

I should remark on the audience’s responses…not enough time today, but there are interesting fissures in the crowd as they take sides in the battle between Sister Aloysius and Fr Flynn…and then switch…and then switch and then… That is the brilliant part of the script, that it throws our - the audience’s - assumptions into doubt too.

These are not connected topics by the way.

1. DOUBT had it’s first paid preview performance Wednesday night ( 3/26) and we’re pretty pleased with the first roll-out to an audience. Laughter/chuckles at certain remarks by characters were anticipated and confirmed the audience’s focus on the play as it unfolded. And there were some audible sounds (moments of astonishment and/or shock) at the right times too. We opted for an unscheduled Q&A afterwards too, just to hear how the audience responded to the play and performance. My guess is that a third of audience stayed put - a very, very affirming sign of the audience’s active thinking, and desire to ponder the play’s themes out loud! (Preview #2 tonight - in about 4 1/2 hours actually.)

2. We went to a presentation by the Wallace Foundation on Wednesday morning. Taproot Theatre has been invited to submit a grant to the “Wallace Excellence Awards” program to fund new activities that expand audience participation and engagement. (FYI: the local invitation list is only for arts orgs with budgets of $1 million+, and based inside the Seattle city limits. A pretty exclusive bunch, and includes some of the largest, multi-million dollar budgeted arts orgs in the NW.) One of their goals is to document the results so that “best practices” can be published and duplicated by other arts organizations across the country. Yikes: the grants range from $250,000-$750,000, spread over four years! Who knows whether our proposal is funded, but the process of working on the proposal - increasing audience participation, attendance and engagement - will be very good for us and still “pay off.”

Yesterday’s meeting featured a presentation by Alan Brown of Wolf-Brown (arts consultants) that was fascinating. He’s researched and written a paper on the intrinsic benefits of the performing arts - five categories like:  Imprint of the Arts Experience, Human Interaction, Personal Development, Communal Meaning and Economic & Social Benefits. There’s a progression in the benefits that begins with the individual at the performance and works their way out to a longer term cumulative and community level. I’ve believed strongly that Theatre speaks to audiences one person at a time, but also in the benefit of the communal experience. There was also a great study on the strong link between anticipation (of the play, concert, etc.) and satisfaction (with the play, concert, etc.).  So beyond marketing hyperbole, are we missing the chance to prepare the attendee for the show? Can we offer better information on the play on-line or through a subscriber newsletter? How can we offer more background details, production photos, rehearsal notes or video clips to create a smarter and more excited attendee? Hmm. Stuff to consider…

Now for some quality time. I pre-ordered this with a birthday gift card last October on Amazon, and it arrived - finally - on Wednesday… the day after it was on the shelves at Target, Best Buy, etc. (Why did I pre-order this…)  I think I saved about $0.35.  BSG Season III was quite exciting and compelling, kicking right in with insurgents, suicide bombers, and cooperating with the enemy. Oh yeah — and the cylons are bringing the love of God (they’re monotheistic, and the humans are polytheistic) to humankind as part of their occupation of New Caprica.  Too much detail for you non-BSGers? Time to rent Seasons 1, 2.0 and 2.5 and get with the frackin’ program, nugget.

I’ll be downstairs with the DVDs - after DOUBT’s dress rehearsal today - if anyone needs me.

We’ve been on the stage for two days now. Tonight with light and sound cues - a sometimes tedious process but so critical at this stage to get all the needed elements in place. In a few days, voila!, we have a whole piece with actors, costumes, lights, sound cues, set, props…and an audience!

We - the cast and I - discussed the full-circle/connection between the Fr. Flynn’s opening sermon about a sailor lost at sea and trusting his memory and navigational skills even though the stars are behind clouds now…and the loss and struggle of Sister Aloysius at the very end of the play as she acknowledges stepping away from God in the pursuit of wrong-doing. Huh? Can you leave God, presuming that is your true “North Star”, and seek justice or redemption or mercy. How do you know where Truth is anymore? I’m seeing her ideological drift, and the lack of moral, solid ground as part of her decline into despair. And doubt. Fascinating. More to come.

Back again with DOUBT, if you know what I mean.

There’s a pivotal character in this play who’s only onstage for half a scene, maybe 5 pages. It’s the character of Mrs. Muller, an African-American woman who is the mother of a young boy whose safety and well-being is also of prime interest in the play. But within this small amount of stage time, the audience’s assumptions get slammed and the play is prepped for another spin on our frail attempts to seize Certainty and to keep Doubt at bay.

Besides Mrs. Muller’s function in the play, there are startling insights into her and her family’s life in 1964,living in the Bronx. I’m not black, female or Catholic, so our discussions/working/reworking the scene have been a illuminating and humbling. This is 1964 and America is beginning to reap its years of institutionalizing racism and segregation (race riots and protests are coming soon.) When Mrs. Muller tells Sister Aloysius “…that’s just the way it is Sister, you can’t fight the man in a robe…” (approximately, with apologies to Mr. Shanley for paraphrasing), it’s a painful reminder of racism’s taint of the Church, and not just Catholic parishes! The inability of an underclass (defined by race or economics) to have respect and dignity in their own faith community is surely a crime against the Gospel. In the play, it’s another twist in trying to find truth. (Such a great play … lots to think about! You could see it three times and still need to see it again to sort it through!)

On a personal note, Pam - the good wife - and I were joined by friends for a five hour dinner at Mt. Baker Winery yesterday. Oh my…golden and red beet carpaccio (?) with french toast walnuts…roasted duck on bread and apple stuffing… Grand Marnier yogurt mousse on citrus slices - I left out the appetizer and cheese courses, and the specifics of 12…14…16 (?) wines we sampled and the educational tour of the winery. Extraordinary! We’ve never attended a dinner like this before - and it was terrific.

But, a real treat came in the explanation of a European tradition of blending wines. Rather than have a single varietal (Cabernet Sauvignon for example), the winemaker takes and combines the best of that season to create a unique wine. In this case, as the wine is sipped over the coming year (or years) there’s a direct connection to remembering the blessings and bounty of that year’s harvest. Most of us, unfamiliar with vineyards or this tradition, just drink the wine with no consciousness of anyone’s efforts, creativity and care. We don’t consider the God-given blessing of rains and seasons! It made me pause and wonder about what prompts me to reflect on the blessings surrounding me. Hmm.

PS: The Mt. Baker Winery is owned by Randy Finley, the former owner of the Seven Gables movie theatre chain - about 5 or 6 venues - here in Seattle . . . including the Greenwood Cinema . . . aka The Grand Theater . . . now the home of Taproot Theatre Company! We made this connection last summer, and it’s been a crazy, small-world, treat.

In about 4 1/2 hours I’m back in the rehearsal room here at Taproot Theatre Company, with a great cast working on John Patrick Shanley’s play DOUBT, a parable. The second play of our 2008 season, it follows a great production of As You Like It with a 1960’s twist - talk about a mental shift!

Yesterday we spent the lion’s share of our time on two scenes, covering about nine pages, tops. The treat of working with sharp actors is the chance, every day, to drill down and ask new questions about the lines’ meaning — which we thought we knew! Or to query each other on the impact of slight twists in delivery, timing or in eye contact. I’m almost three weeks into the rehearsals (we open March 28th), but we all relish the time to back off and revisit some things before get into daily mode of running the play with fewer times to stop, reflect, rework. Actually we’re in technical/dress rehearsals in a week!

My on-going blog is going to cover shows I’m directing, shows I’ve seen, comment on some conferences I’m attending and other matters that encourage/thrill/bug me. From my desk, as producing artistic director of Taproot Theatre Company, I have some rare opportunities to engage with other like-minded artists and to observe the efforts of theatres, my city (Seattle), churches, and friends to make a better world. Stay tuned…