Part of the Cultural Ecosystem

I was asked by Dylan Key at the Undermain if I would like to submit a blog post to TCG Circle, the online forum for the Theatre Communications Group's 2013 National Conference that will be held in Dallas June 5-8.

Below is my first whack at it. The one I will ultimately turn in, if I turn one in, will be different. That said, the ideas below are ones I still stand behind. Enjoy... ~ Brad

Here’s what we, as contemporary theatre artists know: going to the Theatre now implies much more than passive attendance at a performance (i.e. the way we might file into cinemas); it signifies participation in the social life of our cities, our communities. Contemporary theatre-goers - those brave few who recognize how important it is to feed one's mind and soul as well as one's stomach and investment portfolio - are likely to arrive early for pre-show snacks in the lobby or grab dinner, perhaps, at a restaurant in the neighborhood. A contemporary theatre-goer will more than likely stay late for a post-performance discussion, chit-chat with the artists in the lobby after the show, share their thoughts on social media, attend lectures on a Saturday afternoon, visit the plaza for a midday lunch concert or reading, take a youngster to a children's puppet theatre performance at an informal outdoor amphitheatre. Today's theatre-goer may take in a late-night comedy revue over cocktails. In short, contemporary theatre-goers are informed, involved and demanding. They like to both participate as well as sink into anonymity on their own terms. Expectations are high. And well, they should be. Educated patrons and sincere supporters should be valued, especially in today’s media-saturated, million-choice society. Pandered to? No. But valued and developed.

So, should a single theatre company provide all the services listed above? Maybe, though I imagine such an institution as a theatrical equivalent to Walmart. Like its retail doppelganger, this one-stop theatre might have a wide selection, but the quality will be kind of “meh…” Besides, when the cold light of reality shines on the financial resources of most theatre companies, this is hardly possible or practical.

But, and here’s the silver lining…This is what a theatre community is for. A bunch of theatres sticking close to their guns and mission statements share the burden… no not burden… responsibility of supplying for the needs of the cultural community.

The Dallas-Ft. Worth area is blessed in that it has an incredibly diverse theatrical ecosystem. 

Theatre for different ethnic audiences? Got it. 

Puppetry? Got it.

Mid-century fare? Got it.

Light comedy and farce? Got it.

Regional off-Broadway pieces? Got it.

Musicals of all kinds? Got it.

New and original works? Got it.

Dance theatre? Got it. 

Classics? Got it.

Popcorn-throwing melodrama? Got it.

And so on.

This diversity is a boon for audiences, but also for artists as well. Whatever your poison, DFW has some of it. If, as an actor, you want to try your hand at murder mysteries or experimental works or the classics, there are avenues for it in the north Texas cultural landscape. 

It is with this in mind I run a small garage band-size theatre based in Dallas called Audacity Theatre Lab. Both the size and location are conscious choices. We affectionately call ourselves indie. With no permanent venue to call home we are urban gypsies (not homeless). We operate with an extremely low overhead. We have no “season,” but instead present work when it is organically created. We do work at festivals and venues around the country as well as locally. We operate as a collective and give the artists involved total control of the projects from idea to finally putting photos in a scrapbook long after the production has ended. We do theatre because we, as artists, have something to say.

This is possible because of the wonderful diversity of the cultural landscape in Dallas. Audacity can operate far down the Long Tail and fill its particular niche because there are companies such as Dallas Theater Center, Undermain, Kitchen Dog and other LORT and/or TCG Theatres doing a lot of the heavy lifting. With these groups acting as the core, groups like Audacity can happen on the fringes. We can explore and experiment and advance the art form in very particular ways. As independent artists and groups we are freer and should take full advantage of that. That is how we are  part of the cultural ecosystem.

And here’s the thing, small fringe, indie theatres are just another part of the mix of the dynamic theatre community of North Texas. And there are several dozen of us operating at any given time. In fact, overlapping the TCG National Conference, a festival of small, independent theatres will be in full swing at the historic Bath House Cultural Center on beautiful White Rock Lake. Audacity is involved (we’re doing a world-premiere called DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN). Other small groups like Wingspan and Echo Theatre, Rite of Passage and Churchmouse will present work. The aptly named Festival of Independent Theatres is truly a coming together and celebration of Dallas’s small indie theatres.

I’m very excited about the hundreds of theatre colleagues coming to town for the National Conference. I’m excited to share, learn and grow. Just thought I’d give a shout out for us small groups out here on the fringes. We welcome you.

Brad McEntire is Artistic Director of Audacity Theatre Lab. He works predominantly as a director, playwright and solo performer. His show CHOP played at fringe festivals in Seattle, New Orleans, Phoenix, Portland, Houston and New York over the past two years. He has worked with several TCG-member theatres in north Texas such as Cara Mia, Kitchen Dog, Addison Water Tower Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center and the Undermain (where he served as Literary Manager for several years). His new play DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN, about an unlikely time traveling duo, debuts at the 15^th Annual Dallas Festival of Independent Theatres, June 7-22, 2013. McEntire earned his undergraduate degree in Theatre from the College of Santa Fe and his graduate degree from Texas Woman’s University. More info at: www.BradMcEntire.com

On Assumptions, Plays and Hibernating

I ran into a friend recently who had been out of town for the last two years. Having a background in arts organizations, she asked what had been happening with Audacity Theatre Lab since she left the Dallas area two summers back. The last full production she had seen was March 2010’s VOLUME OF SMOKE. Truth be told, that was the last full-scale production, with a proper multi-week run,  ATL has mounted in the Dallas area.

I mentioned that Audacity artists had turned out a giant radio theatre project and produced several festival shows here in town as well as around the country in the past few years. 

“But no REAL shows?”

At this point, I knew it was a useless conversation and just shrugged and said, “Well, no…”

“Ah, that’s too bad. Sorry to hear that. You guys will get back on it…”

I changed the subject and we wandered off the topic. What had started as a casual follow-up had turned into something that subtly irked me. But why? It was true. ATL had not produced any “big” shows in the local market. Upon reflection that interaction brought up two, separate but related, issues. She was operating on an assumption that the primary (if not, in her opinion, ONLY) thing that theatres do is put on plays in their own backyards. She also seemed to be under the impression that as a theatre, a steady stream of output must flow forth, because again, isn’t that what theatres do.

Let’s pick this apart a bit.

First, traditionally, theatre companies have existed to put on plays in places called theatres. Though most people who think about the theatre at all think of this as a given, it is not so cut and dry. 

Peter Brook wrote famously in the opening paragraph of his THE EMPTY SPACE, “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged.”

Bare minimum, for theatre to happen, all you need is someone doing something, someone watching and a place to have it happen. Notice his description did not include any details like costumes, a proscenium stage, advanced lighting or sound design, red velvet curtains or even, surprise of surprises, a play.

As a small independent theatre, Audacity is under no obligation to do full-scale productions in a certain place for a certain time. We don’t have to do anything in a designated theatre building. We don’t have to do plays. We only have to have someone do something where people can watch. Period. We can do projects that are pure improvisation, evenings of music and stories, stunts and happenings. We can do them anywhere we can drum up a crowd – bars, parks, patios, galleries, coffee shops, parking lots, living rooms, etc.

That said, we actually do plays on occasion that fit the traditional assumptions. We at ATL don’t have anything against traditional plays or presenting them in traditional ways, it is just that we see them merely as one of many arrows in our quiver. Of course, our mission states we must create these plays ourselves.

As for the second assumption - that a theatre must keep pumping out productions all the time, or even on a season-by-season rate - a closer look is also needed. 

Again, tradition, at least since the LORT/ Regional Theatre model came to prominence in America during the 1960s, states that non-profit theatre have seasons. Each season is filled with slots for shows (insert holiday show around Christmas, romance in February, Musical in the summer, drama in the fall, and so on). Plays are chosen to fill these slots. These seasons of plays are sold ahead of time to patrons as subscriptions (like magazines) long before the actual plays are put into production. There is nothing wrong with this model unless it is looked upon as the only way things can be done. At Audacity, projects arise organically. We do not have a facility to manage and most of our operations can be run from a laptop computer. This leads to incredibly low over head, meaning we do not have to generate income all the time. Since we don’t need steady income, we don’t have to steadily generate productions. When we have ideas,only then do we find a way to put the work in front of audiences.

What this allows us is the ability, essentially, to hibernate.

Hibernation is a state of inactivity. In nature, the purpose of hibernation is to conserve energy during a period when sufficient resources, such as food, are scarce. Rodents, bears, lemurs, hedgehogs, marsupials and even some bats hibernate throughout a given year. Why not a theatre company?

When hibernating, a bear does not die. Once spring comes the bear comes back to full wakefulness. Thus is can be with a theatre. It does not have to be all or nothing. If you have no pressing need for income, such as that needed to pay for a facility, there is no need to turn over project after project. The theatre artist can take his or her time, develop a project until it is ready, and then present it. If there is no project on the horizon, then the company hibernates. The absence of activity does not mean the absence of existence. The company is poised, ready and waiting. It is there when the artist needs it and conserves energy and resources when it is not needed.

This is what we mean when we say the theatre serves the artist, not the other way around.

It is through reflection that these thoughts form more clearly in my mind. I cannot go back and explain this to my friend who went out of town. I wish I could have corrected her very simple and faulty assumptions. As I move forward in my experiments with operating a small, truly independent, theatre company, I am learning there really are NO assumptions that can be taken at face value. Question everything.

McEntire Talks About ATL

Artistic Director Brad McEntire was recently interviewed about the ideas behind Audacity. Here's a bit of that interview.