What I Would Like to See

Here it is! My last post before the 24-Hour Theatre Project begins. My apologies in advance, but since the project starts in about 10 hours (as of this writing) I am not going to edit this post as thoroughly as I have tried to do in the past. I am definitely excited. How can I tell? I've been having dreams about it. Crazy dreams! Three nights running worth of dreams. That is big excitement for me.

However, this post isn't going to be about the 24-Hour Theatre project. It is going to be about original theatre experiences. It is going to be a brief summation of some things that I would like to see in community theatre. Now, as I write this I am going to encourage you to go see original productions. I don't mean to imply that reproductions of famous works aren't worth your time. Most of the shows I've participated in aren't original and I've loved them. The audience is usually entertained as well.

Still, there is something special about creating, especially when you are collaborating. With original experiences you have the chance to be the first person to see a show. You might be among a small handful that will ever see that show. That makes it special (assuming it's worth seeing). So, let me tell you about a few ideas I would love to see locally.

Writing Contest--In high school I entered a writing contest in the drama category. I got honorable mention for a play I wrote up in a few minutes. It involved two boys trying to use creative wording to excuse their cheating. Cooperative learning experience. In the end the principal gives them detention, but tells them to consider it something else. I can't remember what I called it anymore. I don't have the script. Not important. I do remember watching them do readings of the winners play. One involved helicopters and the Vietnam war. They played Simon and Garfunkel. It stuck with me.

I would love to see a local writing contest like that, but not for high school students. For everyone! Who knows what creative talent is hiding out there just waiting for their opportunity to shine? Sure, the ambitious will go out and make their opportunities. Sometimes, we need to help others to shine. To remind them of their potential. So, a writing contest geared for adults in the Magic Valley.

Radio Drama--This wouldn't necessarily be an original work, but I think it would be an interesting change of pace from many of the shows we see. The audience enters the theatre, they are given their program. They get their concessions. They find their seats. The cast comes out and are introduced, then they are hidden behind a screen on stage. The lights go out and then the performers begin to act out a radio style drama, focusing on the sound quality, not the visual quality. I already have a show in mind for this.

What I especially love about this is that it would give a sound technician a chance to really thrive as they helped create the appropriate atmosphere for the show.

Theatre Olympics--Theatre olympics exist somewhere, but I don't know what they entail. I also know high school students regularly participate in drama competitions. I don't know what those entail either. What I am picturing is a competition with several events. Some events require teams, some require that you enter solo.

Possible events would be: Monologues (comedic, dramatic, cold-reading), Improv (Sketch, gimmick, long-form), Costume Design, Set Design, Team Short pieces.
Preliminary events would be held like auditions to help narrow the field down to a few people that would then compete in front of an audience. I don't know if listening to monologues would be too boring for a paying audience, but it would be a fun experiment.

Choose Your Own Adventure Play--Just like the old books, the audience gets to help decide the fate of the play. At key points during the action the players will freeze on stage while a question along the lines of "What Happens Next?" is given to the audience. They then use electronic devices to key in their answer and it appears on the projector so everyone can see the results. The players than act out the next part according to the players choice.

I did a version of this with a 3-minute improvisation game. It usually got crazy and utter ridiculous. It's hard to tell a good story when the audience is given the chance to vote on random suggestions. They tend to pick the thing that will be most embarrassing for the actors. For that reason I would not suggest doing this as improvisation. This should be a fully scripted show, with the alternate scenes scripted out and rehearsed rigorously.

Even that could quickly grow out of hand. It's a numbers game. One choice point with three selections makes for three different (though possibly similar) scenes to be rehearsed. If you add another choice point with three selections later you could have a possibility of nine different endings! And that's if you stick with two choice points. Every choice point you add makes an exponential increase in the number of scenes the players have to memorize.

For that reason, I imagine that you would have only two choice points. The first choice point would come before the intermission and be a major part of the rising action. This choice point would only have two options. A character does either 'A' or 'B'. That gives the cast and crew ten minutes to prepare themselves for the details of the scene that has been selected. Another choice point would be right at the climax. This is where the audience is allowed to select the ending, even if it doesn't turn out the way they had hoped. Make this another 'A' or 'B' choice point and you will probably have four endings that differ slightly. It might even be feasible to add a 'C' choice at this point and allow six different endings without overtaxing the actors.

In the end, it is going to take the right group of actors to pull this off because of the work involved. A lot of fun for the audience, but a lot of work for the actors. This might serve better as a long-running show that gives the audience multiple chances to come see it and get different experiences. Of course, long-running shows are more effective if you have actors who can commit to long-shows. That doesn't happen often in community theatre so this idea might not be right for the Magic Valley.

What theatre experiences would you like to see?