2005-02-22 11:14:53Richard Chua
A sense of alienation after watching theatre last night.
I received a beautiful invite from a company for their gala premiere of their production last night. The story was excellent, and script great, but after the show, I felt loss as I didn't seem to have much room of engagement left with the performance, as much as I would want to make space for it. It was not the performance itself, but the things what went on around it. Beautiful set-up, the glitz and the fan-fare. The production was instantly propelled into a state
of hyper-reality. Active solicitations of donations reflect the financial needs of the company, which is not uncommon in the local theatre scene. The irony here lies in its active effort to keep company's survival through a lavish show of style to get more money (not just from donations, but also ticket sales). This hyper-reality show of poverty and wealth is rather telling of one form of production climate of theatre in Singapore.
The producer's message in his note was clear in defining the direction the company is moving
toward.
He writes, "A successful production is not measured solely on its artistic merits or commercial
success. (There are some in the theatre circle who strangely believe that these two should be inversely proportionate). Theatre productions should be approached with several objectives in mind - a sound financial/business model, good production values, and above all, respect to all those involved in making the production possible."
"Successful" is a rather subjective term. "Success" is anchored on whether an art-work is artistically strong or weak. Or, even, the term "success" is not an appropriate description. And, what constitutes "production values"? What values are we looking at? Economic? Creative?
Lastly, I would rather accord respect to all involved as an act of humanity. It has got nothing to do with the production.
I was carrying these messages as I entered the theatre.
Engagement with the audience had begun even before the performance started. Where is the emphasis? The pre-show or the show itself?
richard
(This response was posted on the Arts Community E-group on 18th Feb 2005)
http://www.yahoogroups.com/artscommunity
of hyper-reality. Active solicitations of donations reflect the financial needs of the company, which is not uncommon in the local theatre scene. The irony here lies in its active effort to keep company's survival through a lavish show of style to get more money (not just from donations, but also ticket sales). This hyper-reality show of poverty and wealth is rather telling of one form of production climate of theatre in Singapore.
The producer's message in his note was clear in defining the direction the company is moving
toward.
He writes, "A successful production is not measured solely on its artistic merits or commercial
success. (There are some in the theatre circle who strangely believe that these two should be inversely proportionate). Theatre productions should be approached with several objectives in mind - a sound financial/business model, good production values, and above all, respect to all those involved in making the production possible."
"Successful" is a rather subjective term. "Success" is anchored on whether an art-work is artistically strong or weak. Or, even, the term "success" is not an appropriate description. And, what constitutes "production values"? What values are we looking at? Economic? Creative?
Lastly, I would rather accord respect to all involved as an act of humanity. It has got nothing to do with the production.
I was carrying these messages as I entered the theatre.
Engagement with the audience had begun even before the performance started. Where is the emphasis? The pre-show or the show itself?
richard
(This response was posted on the Arts Community E-group on 18th Feb 2005)
http://www.yahoogroups.com/artscommunity