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Post by anon on Nov 6, 2012 6:54:08 GMT -5
Sorry if this is a bit late.
I want to share some my own perspective as a playwright. The simple fact of the matter is that Richmond didn't want what I had to offer, but New York did. In the time that I lived there, I managed to write, revise, and finally produce a play that premiered at a festival. It only took me about a year and a half from first draft to final curtain call. I came to NYC with no connections to the theatre community there but left with a world premiere.
Granted, this was a very quick-and-dirty affair, but that's sort of the point. I had no idea what I was doing, but I did it anyway. I made mistakes, I learned about myself and my needs as an artist, and now I can apply that to the next piece I produce.
I could have never accomplished this here in Richmond, despite the fact that I was born and raised here. That's part of the problem.
It often seems that Richmond is very reluctant to think outside the box when it comes to making theatre. It's especially noticeable when you consider what's available for Richmond playwrights who want to get a foot in the door or want to take their work from page to stage. I would love for Richmond to have something (or lots of somethings!) dedicated to finding and nurturing local playwrights. Where is Richmond's version of 13P? I'd love to be part of something like that.
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Post by jfran66 on Nov 7, 2012 1:10:47 GMT -5
The only thing that I can think of is SPARC's New Voices for the Theater Festival every summer, where 8 talented high-school age playwrights are brought to Richmond for a 2-week residency to work on their original plays and have them world-premiered as staged readings. Other then that, there's not much that I know of. Some original works have been happening here over the last few years, but most have been musicals, and there is certainly no cultivation of original musical works here in town.
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Post by anon on Nov 7, 2012 8:24:56 GMT -5
So if you're not a child or if you don't write musicals, you're SOL?
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Post by jfran66 on Nov 7, 2012 14:17:50 GMT -5
Not SOL. But the likelihood of finding a spur of fire in the creation of new works for the stage here in Richmond is slim to none. People can create new works here, and get the adulation and support of their friends, but real feedback, professional development, and actually getting it off the ground are things that have to happen outside of Richmond, unfortunately. There is simply not a market for it, in my opinion.
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Post by Guest on Nov 8, 2012 0:47:01 GMT -5
I guess the word is not getting out about the opportunities that are here for playwrights. There's actually quite a few. You did a "down and dirty" production in NYC? I'm not sure why you would think that wasn't possible in Richmond? RTP has helped produce several world premieres from local playwrights over the past year or two. Staged readings abound in numerous venues: The Shop, Firehouse, RTP, Richmond Playwrights Forum come to mind. Virginia Rep produced a world premiere from a local playwright just last year. CAT backed a Virginia playwrights contest and will produce a world premiere next year. TheatreLab is committed to creating and nurturing new work. Now granted, most of these opportunities are going to require the playwright to push their work and possibly self-produce, but the end results range from down and dirty to full productions. It would be nice to have a theatre or group dedicated to page-to-the-stage development, but I think it's unfair to say that you could not have had your world premiere here. As for shows that then go nowhere and have no second production, that's the name of the game wherever you go. World premieres are hard enough to come by, but second productions -- those are even harder!
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Post by anon on Nov 8, 2012 4:47:06 GMT -5
Something is not working here if Richmond playwrights get the sense that Richmond is not the place to develop their work, build an audience, or simply put on a show.
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Post by guest on Nov 8, 2012 11:14:58 GMT -5
I guess I'm looking for a list of steps for Richmond theaters to take to make us a more playwright-friendly city (setting aside momentarily the question of whether it now is or isn't). When the list of cities of comparable size was given previously, I noticed one name in particular that stirred thoughts related to this discussion. Although I've never been there, I have the impression that Louisville, KY IS thought of as a "theater town" primarily because I hear about the Actors Theatre of Louisville and its Humana Festival of New American Plays (started in 1976), and plays that started there. Firehouse Theatre Project in Richmond also has a Festival of New American Plays, which has been held the last 10 years. As a reader of plays, I first became aware of Actors Theatre and the Humana Festival from buying and reading several of the annual compilations of their best plays. Now that I think about it, I really know nothing about the theatre except that they have a theatre, have an annual contest, publish the winners and apparently have a good eye/ear for writing talent. For a little constructive comparison, below are the websites for the two festivals. Please keep in mind that the Louisville festival has been going on for more than three times as long (so far), and they didn't have a publisher either until they had several years of festivals under their belt. www.firehousetheatre.org/?page_id=51actorstheatre.org/humana-festival-of-new-american-plays/history/P.S. "Something Intangible," which debuted at Firehouse Theatre in 2011, was recently published. Pretty cool to see the Richmond theatre and cast listed at the beginning of the play book! |
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Post by anon on Nov 8, 2012 21:48:44 GMT -5
I also think Richmond would benefit greatly from having a fringe festival. What I like about them is that they are a low-barrier method of getting new and experimental work by unknown artists in front of an audience.
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ShowBizRadio
New Member
Loving theater of all types
Posts: 3
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Post by ShowBizRadio on Nov 9, 2012 8:14:33 GMT -5
I was about to ask if Richmond had a Fringe Festival. I went to a bunch of shows at DC's Capital Fringe in 2010. There's a wide range of shows, from *very* adult, to traditional shows done by new groups trying to get exposure. If you can get cooperation from a bunch of performance spaces (or even found/created spaces) near each other (walking distance) it could work quite well. Capital Fringe uses about ten venues within about six blocks of one another, and runs shows over a three week period. CF also has 125+ shows per year, which is probably too many, but it does allow everyone to find a bunch of shows they would want to see.
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Post by Guest on Nov 10, 2012 15:37:39 GMT -5
Playwright's POV is right. It is harder to get a new work developed and produced here than in NY. That's because without a NY "christening", potential producers here are wary of taking any chances. They would rather produce a proven NY success than be a proving ground themselves. But like others have pointed out, places like Louisville get on the map in the theatre world by becoming proving grounds for new work. RVA could absolutely be a place like that. But it requires courage and a commitment by the theatre companies here to actually want to be that.
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Post by guest on Nov 10, 2012 17:01:50 GMT -5
"Capital Fringe uses about ten venues within about six blocks of one another..."
They are not within walking distance, but I can think of about 10 stages from Broad & 5th to Willow Lawn, all on Broad or within a couple blocks, and large rehearsal halls (which could conceivably be used for small stagings) in some of the same facilities. They are clustered, with drives or long walks between, but for the traveler are all short walks from city bus routes. This count includes some much larger venues where "fringe" events might not be financially feasible to fill up the house (Carpenter Center, National, November and Landmark), but at least two of those have smaller theatres (Gottwald and Theatre Gym), and the Landmark has the basement space and rehearsal/reception halls that could be used to add to the VCU-area spaces.
One of the keys would be SCHEDULING. Even for the avid theatergoer, it can be difficult to get to all the shows in town because many area theaters follow the exact same schedule except for student matinees and occasional industry nights. (Thank goodness for Swift Creek's inclusion of some Sunday evening shows!) But, those are the times that people in Richmond tend to buy more tickets. I think that to be truly an immersion experience (and cost-effective for the traveler), a fringe festival might want to use more creative scheduling (say, scattered across, 10 AM, 2, 5, 8 and even 11 or 12 PM showtimes on a Fri-Sat-Sun (preferably a weekend with a Monday holiday). Add in boxed lunches ready-to-go at nearby establishments and you could fly between shows. Just thinking...
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Post by playwrightpov on Nov 11, 2012 7:31:15 GMT -5
I think that, before we work out logistics, we have to solidify the vision and purpose of such a venture. If it's all about tourists, that seems to defeat the purpose, which was to develop a way of showcasing productions that's more inviting and accessible to local talent.
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Post by davetline on Nov 13, 2012 10:15:34 GMT -5
This is a great topic! Original work is one of the essentials for Richmond to be considered any kind of theater town. The examples of festivals like Humana or Capital Fringe (I'd throw in Hollywood Fringe in LA that I was lucky enough to attend for a full week last summer and that mostly happens in LA's theater row) highlight what I think is THE essential element: Partnerships.
The Humana Corporation was/is the major source of funding for that festival and was essential in making it successful. Any venture of that kind requires partners for several key reasons, among them sharing the financial burden, increasing access to other audiences, and dramatically increasing the number of people invested in the success of the event.
Luckily, there are all sorts of partners available in Richmond to help make this happen. VCU and/or U of R would be perfect examples. In terms of a fringe festival, they could provide venues and scads of creative young folks to provide fodder for the event. The Martin Agency seems like a natural fit also -- it's a company filled with creatives; wouldn't they love another outlet for their talents? How about the city itself? They want to re-energize downtown; how about a festival that's not focused on Brown's Island but on the center city itself, utilizing some of the vacant buildings near CenterStage?
As with most things, a broader festival of new work or a fringe festival could happen here easy peasy. It would just take the dedicated work of one or two people and perhaps the partnership of one larger entity of some kind. It's not a direct comparison but that's how the RTCC awards came about. It's not rocket science; it's just about doing the work to get it done.
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Post by davetline on Nov 13, 2012 10:58:42 GMT -5
PS: Another possible partner: James River Writers. A great crew of people who have an abiding interest in Richmond writers and their original work. And who also have experience organizing big events. There is also already cross-over between the communities, with people like Irene Ziegler and David Robbins, etc.
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Post by playwrightpov on Nov 14, 2012 16:26:19 GMT -5
Who would be interested in bottom-lining a fringe festival for Richmond or at least get the ball rolling?
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