RISKY BUSINESS: HOW THEATRES PLAN SEASONS
Hollywood screenwriter William Goldman said, when asked whether or not it was possible to predict which movies would be successful and which would fail, “Nobody knows anything.”How do our theatre makers go? Stage Whispers asked some of our artistic directors how they balance risk when planning a season.
Lyndon Terracini- Opera Australia.
“There two extremes. You need both ends. If you push boundaries with one production you need to find another piece which is more accessible.
“People say I don’t want to see La Boheme again – yet this year we did 30 performances and sold 45,000 tickets, whereas Of Mice and Men (six performances) sold 4900.
“We present the classic operas in a conservative manner but can be more provocative with other works.
“You can’t just do those popular pieces. Like food you need some spice and some sweets. It’s about balance.”
In 2012 he says an example of a sweet production is The Magic Flute, presented in English, while a spicy one will be a provocative new production of Salome and a modern German Opera Die tote Stadt.
Adam Cook– State Theatre of South Australia.
“Programming a season is about pursing exciting ideas and powerful dreams, a battle of aspiration and pragmatism, knowing your market and working out ways to expand it; how to keep your loyal audience invigorated, and how to woo a new one. It’s an ongoing risk, but it’s a joyful one.
“Audiences need to be excited by what is unfamiliar to them. We find local audiences do get behind world premiere productions in Adelaide of plays written by South Australian writers, but occasionally are put off by plays that contain violent or disturbing themes.
“This year I was very heartened to see that Speaking in Tongues by Andrew Bovell, such a meticulously conceived and passionately performed production on very dark and disturbing themes, had such a high attendance in our big theatre.
“Three Sisters. It worked, no question, but it was not (well) attended. Whereas The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged] expanded our audience reach.
“We present our more audacious and experimental work in the smaller, studio-sized Space theatre. Our more commercial productions in a 600 seat theatre.”
In 2012 he says risky productions are the plays Blasted and Pornography – which include nudity, violence, sex and cannibalism.
“We will have to be very detailed in the way we market these plays so audiences know what they’re in for!”
Mark Kilmurry– Ensemble Theatre.
“A (riskier) play is one that has a larger cast and a dramatic subject. Though with careful planning this can be minimized. This year Casanova was a risk – subject matter, large cast, period drama – but got very good reviews and did very well.
“I don’t think authors are a particular draw card unless they are very famous - David Williamson, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon etc… other playwrights do not impact on ticket sales as much as cast.
“I think theatre should be challenging but also entertaining. We can do plays that challenge and are carefully thought out but not silly risks like doing a play on ice or a Beckett in German.
“If (Co-artistic Director) Sandra Bates and I feel a play must be seen then we’ll do that play.”
In 2012 he nominated The Act (a comedy about a double act facing the Gestapo) as a powerful play which deserves a big audience.
Pamela Rabe - Melbourne Theatre Company.
“We attempt to assemble a variety of experiences across a number of venues whose scale and subject matter and excitement factor are in balance.
“Even if we program a project that may appear to be unabashedly populist, a recognized work that makes you ‘feel good’ – a musical comedy in the Playhouse, say – its scale (& therefore cost and number of ticket sales needed) makes it ‘risky’.
“It’s actually much ‘riskier’ than a 3-hander in a tiny venue, even if that small-scale piece is dealing with confronting issues, by a first-time author and starring unknown performers.
“Populist fare, apparently ‘safe’ and conservative programming choices are often there to help finance the less familiar work within the season, but in the end it’s all a gamble. Best to put together an array of projects that you want to see and want to do and hope the audience shares your excitement.”
Image: Robyn Nevin, Pamela Rabe and Aidan Fennessy.
Wesley Enoch - Queensland Theatre Company.
“The more an audience knows the play the greater risk you can take with the casting or director etc. I love that most audiences who have been coming to theatre for years embrace many different kinds of theatre and themes. Risk is always managed rather than eradicated.
“In 2012 I put together a program of shows as a way of having a large conversation with a large audience.”
The program ranges from a comedy about a cross dressing footballer to Shakespeare to a large-scale indigenous show.
“The QTC haven't done a large scale Indigenous show for a while so I am testing to see if audiences want to engage in this very important story (Bloodland) with these incredible artists.”
In 2011 almost all shows for the QTC were risky. “This year has been incredibly hard with the flood recovery. The city has felt the pain all year.”
Photogrpher: Justin Walpole.
Sam Strong - Griffin Theatre.
“Margins at Griffin are very tight. If more than one show in our season dramatically underperforms, that requires very careful whole of company management.”
“If you are going to stretch an audience’s expectations, you need to clearly communicate that to them beforehand. For example, an audience might see the play Between Two Waves (October next year)deals with climate change and be put off because they think it might be didactic. So it’s important for us to convey that the piece tackles that issue in an emotional and imaginative way.
“Silent Disco (in 2011) was an interesting case study. This was a new work by a relatively unknown writer dealing with the lives of teenagers in Western Sydney. On paper this should have been a little riskier. However, the piece was beautifully written by Lachlan Philpott and beautifully executed by director Lee Lewis and the cast. I think the lesson is that great theatremaking – great acting, great directing and great design – will always find an audience.
“The profoundest experiences are generally the ones that stretch us – into areas well beyond our everyday lives, into darker parts of our personality, or into experiences we were not ready or prepared for. And great theatre is, of course, always magical and surprising and we need to leave room for this to occur.”
Originally published in the November / December 2012 edition of Stage Whispers.
State of Play - Whitney Fitzsimmons looks at 2012 seasons
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