Further reflections on Shakespeare on the Lake experience

Four weeks out, and the first of our bookings are trickling in. A heartening feeling, but it brings some interesting questions to mind... Last night I was talking to some punters who came to the show (see under Quizmeister's Trivia in the What's On page), who asked me if I did anything other than host a quiz. I told them that I do a bit of theatre around Perth and mentioned 'Shrew'. They began talking quite excitedly about it, because they'd heard that it was on and were planning on seeing it. It was a wonderful feeling, and it left me considering just how powerful the word-of-mouth phenomenon is. As yet we have not produced any of our official publicity material, which was not to our preference, but a few delays are understandable and inevitable when theatre is squeezed in and around otherwise busy schedules, as I'm sure we can all attest. In any case, the seriously talented Grant Watson has offered to complete our poster design for us; an offer which we very joyously accepted, given his past triumphs. We're just waiting to get our hands on the image that we want to use and (to coin a phrase) Robert-is-slightly-more-than-an-obscure-relative-of-yours. However, though we do not yet have a poster, we seem to have generated a fair amount of positive publicity. This has put the thought in my mind that of all the theatre I have gone to see this year, almost none of it has been because I looked at the show's poster and thought, 'That looks good/interesting/weird/fascinating/awful... I'll have to go and see that.' No, I have gone to see theatre because I knew someone who was in it, or because I have heard that the show is good/interesting/weird/fascinating/awful, or I have a friend who is going to see it because they know someone who is in it, or because a friend has heard that the show is... etc, etc. Of course, I take note of the posters I see, but it is the influence of others' thoughts that often turn inclination into action. The implication of this, to my mind, is that though publicity of a material nature is vital for catching the eye and for making important information concise and easy to access, it is more important that we talk about what we do. I'm aware that for many this is not an earth-shattering revelation, but it's a handy thing to know. The trouble is, it's hard to think of the Show Poster as being anything other than indispensable. It's visual. It's eye-catching. It offers hope and excitement before the show goes up, and stimulates fond remembrance once the show is done. It's the static version of a movie trailer, and captures (one hopes) the very essence of the production. How could we do without it? At Upstart we're putting ourselves on the line a little bit more than usual, because we're using one of our wedding pictures as the main image for the poster. This puts Jo and me in an unenviable position, since we're asking people to judge not only the nature of the production, but to look favourably upon an image that means a great deal to us. Are we risking too much by sharing such an intimate part of ourselves with the public? Will we have to wear our skins slightly thicker than usual this season, or will the masses approve and joy be unconfined? It's a difficult question to answer. the rocking jedi badger