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Re: RAT In support of in-home, in-class, on-line theater

Go Cat. Mo':   I just put down Potteiger and Purinton's <Narrative
Landscapes"
whose audience (landscape architect students) are hewing/honing other
skills,
but the story wends in the same direction .peggy

----- Original Message -----
From: Cat Hebert <virtualdrama@juno.com>
To: <rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com>
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2001 3:46 PM
Subject: RAT In support of in-home, in-class, on-line theater


> In support of in-home,  in-class, on-line theater
>
> One of the byproducts of a culture in which people watch 10-20 hrs of
> acted-out storytelling per week is that, one way or another, everyone has
> become a critic. The level of acting/editing is so high during TV
> storytelling that less-than-superior performances get "thumbs down" from
> the woman on the street -- often using terms that echo the phrasing (if
> not the opinions) of on-air critics. (I overheard a lady cop evaluating
> George Clooney's performance in The Perfect Storm: " He always sounds
> like he's reading his lines. I wonder if they have a teleprompter
> somewhere for him.  Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't kick him out of bed.")
>
> Community theater audiences bring this critical acumen with them as they
> view local productions, and even though they may mentally make allowances
> for Frank the hairstylist's performance as the Rainmaker, their comments
> in the lobby tend to be more of the nature of "Tessie was a lot better
> than I thought" or "How did she memorize all those lines?" than "I wish I
> were up there doing that". Those film performance comparisons are fixed
> firmly in the water cooler section of our brains.
>
> Part of the problem in the U.S., of course, has to do with budget cuts
> and curriculum changes that have virtually eliminated theater from the
> classroom, but we also carry cultural baggage that says "If you aren't a
> professional, you aren't any good." ... or ... "If I'm not professional
> out there I'm going to embarrass myself."
>
> The highly competitive, often defensive, " semi-pro" theater community
> reinforces these reactions by turning up its collective nose at
> performers who have that "community theater smell" [actual comment] about
> them. "Well, we all have to start somewhere." "Do you have any *real*
> acting credits?" Understandable? Yes. Helpful? No.
>
> The result is that even though the community theater movement in the U.S.
> is stronger than ever, fewer citizens are participating in the creation
> of theater. As we all know, theater audiences are heavily made up of
> people who "do" theater.  These audiences pay taxes, and elect politicans
> who are responsible for funding theater.
>
> Rampant professionalism is the culprit, I'm afraid, and we need to do
> something about it before it spreads any further.
>
> One way to start a "get-back-to-basics" theater campaign is to get more
> students doing theater. What do suburban kids do the most (besides
> thinking about you-know-what)? Hang out on the Internet and/or the
> telephone.
>
> That's why I see online, in-room, in-dorm, webcam [videoconference]
> theater as a natural way to get kids involved in theater. It'll take a
> formal movement of some sort. Contests (sponsored by VH1?). You know.
> What'll they act out? You know, stupid stuff. They'll write/improvise
> about their lives, about the neighbors. Do parodies of TV.  *Be* parodies
> of TV. But ... it'll be kids looking at other kids -- chatroom attached.
>
> Family online theater is a tougher sell. Teenagers will want to put the
> tech together or direct. Easier to get them to dive into a pit of zit pus
> than to roleplay with sister Amie.:) Parents will try to avoid it
> altogether ["uh, I have to finish this fiscal year budgeting paradigm ...
> stuff"] -- unless, of course there are rewards involved or they can be
> guilted into using it as "quality time" or [tech trans.] "face time".
> They can write about the family: about the time Uncle Nick slipped on his
> own toupee. They can model the effects of global warming. Whatever.
>
> "And what theater of significance will come out of this?"  Of
> significance to whom? The acting out of stories has been with us a wee
> bit longer than acting out stories in a loud voice for two hours and one
> pee break."
>
> Maybe it's time that theater got back to the joy of storytelling.  And we
> have just the hi-tech tools to help us do it.
>
> Cheers,
> Cat Hebert
> ________________________________________________________________
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>
>
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