Lack of support?
Mon, 9 June 2008, 09:27 amclass act theatre5 posts in thread
Lack of support?
Mon, 9 June 2008, 09:27 amAfter reading some comments about "Into the Woods" on the review forum - I was shocked to hear that
Yellow Glass are having trouble finding audiences as well!
We just completed "The Canterbury Tales" at the Rechabites Hall - also with good reviews and fantastic
audience responses (from the few that bothered to come along, that is.)
Class Act & Bare Naked Theatres are paying the actors therefore our production values have to be pretty low-budget
(this is also the case because we have to tour our shows in a van in the southwest for 2 weeks)
When we went to Mandurah on 30 May - we had almost 400 in the audience! Not much less than we had for the
the ENTIRE 3 week season at the Rechies.
I personally go to see community & professional shows as well as co-ops.
I saw very few community theatre people in our audiences - despite the fact that Stephen Lee is a prominent
and respected figure in the circle - and only a very small handful of fellow professionals.
Where is the support, folks?
I guess what I am saying is - if we can't support each other, how can we expect to grow our audience base
for all types of theatre? (And let's face it, many of us cross the boundaries between pro, amateur & profit share
on a regular basis.)
Luckily our next production - Macbeth at the Subi Arts Centre, at least has some great audiences - thanks
to Perth schools!
I am interested to hear how others feel about this.
Angelique Malcolm
Agreed!!
Sat, 14 June 2008, 12:57 pmIf I were to attend EVERY show that people I know are in, I wouldn't have time to sleep, or get on with other things in my life. A line has to be drawn somewhere, and most friends in theatre understand this.
It's different for those not doing it for money- different pressures apply. However the audience doesn't do it for the money, so for them those "semi-pro" pressures mean jack.
Plus, the venue often plays a big part in whether one will attend. I have written previously on my vociferous distate for the "Rech"- burn it to the ground, I say....
"It ain't braggin' if you can back it up."- Jaco Pastorius