This continues a series of guest columns on how technology is reshaping hobbies and passions – basket weaving, rugby – whatever.
This time it is Marilyn Pratt, “Community Evangelist” at SAP Labs. She is applying concepts she learned in two decades of volunteer work building grassroots political communities. Indeed, she debated writing about that advocacy as her “hobby”. Theater won and here she writes about technology in shows…
“My husband and I have been avid theater goers all our lives and met while studying Theater Directing at Tel Aviv University. Fast forward to last year – we started volunteer ushering for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows in New York, where we now live.
Yes, we have become the senior citizens who help other seniors to their seats. So that long stretch of time, I hope you agree, qualifies us to talk about how technology has helped theater evolve :)
Let me touch on a handful of technology influences:
Technology on the Stage
Let’s start with early seventies when we worked in many of the leading professional stage companies in Israel, directing, assisting and stage managing. My interface with technology at that time was centered on the use of dimmer boards and the application of lighting design for the stage.
We used a dimmer that was described as having: “the great merit of being so easy to comprehend that no particular know-how or technique is required for either plotting or operation”
While easy to comprehend, the operation of the boards relied heavily on visual or audio cues and the smoothness of the transitions from scene to scene was in direct correlation to the dexterity of the board operator. Try doing those transitions when running sound cues from an audio-tape, and following text for prompts.
Enter the computerized control console! “ Such consoles use computer memory to store dimmer intensities for each cue. They also store fade times and have numerous capabilities that simply cannot be duplicated by any other type of control system. Of particular note is the ability of computerized consoles to repeat tasks consistently and accurately. That repeatability means that the lighting will look exactly as the designer intended for each and every performance.”
One regret - I was already moving on to my second career as a computer programmer in the early 80's when those consoles started to show..just as well because even those are obsolete compared to today’s technologies.
One of the most amazing productions we have seen in recent years is the Argentine “Fuerzabruta”. As this review says its “shocking lights and techno music alert the senses”. The trailer below will give you an idea
While purists may lament it, we can expect to see more technology on stage and for it to be increasingly influenced by the stunning effects that shows such as Cirque de Soleil and Blue Man Group are innovating.
Getting to the show
With the advent of kids we had began to view theater as a hobby rather than a vocation – though our first child suffered through many night rehearsals. We also started exploring ways to make our passion for theater attending more cost effective.
While many visitors to New York still faithfully stand in line for discount tickets at the TKTS booth that has been a fixture in Times Square since the 70s, we discovered TDF (Theater Development Fund). It was originally meant to provide discount tickets for theater professionals but of late has become accessible to a wider public. By making the offerings accessible electronically a new world opened for instant seat selection, ability to see reviews of offerings, ease of logistics in terms of theater locations, even reduced parking.(a $10 parking coupon is a huge bargain when going to Broadway).
We have also established a rapport with a number of theaters and are on email lists of quite a few theater venues in New York looking for reliable volunteer ushers. Virtual world usually mirrors real world and unfortunately, we have also created online scalping and hoarding behaviors.
The audience experience and the sharing
Traditionally in theaters, the audience is expected to be all hush-hush. It watches the play through a proscenium. And, of course, it is barred from any kind of recording or photography.
Contrast this to the experience from Fuerzabruta. You are not just a spectator. You are a moving audience, literally.
And there is no problem recording and sharing the show on Youtube and Facebook. We brought 15 people to the show and electronically shared our impressions with the world to enjoy. But so did many others, as you will see when you go to the Youtube site where I posted.
With MP3 technology, musicals have also become easy to procure and share. The iPod President Obama recently gifted Queen Elizabeth included 40 songs from popular Broadway productions, including "The King and I," "West Side Story" and "Dreamgirls."
Of course, Twitter increasingly plays a part in passing along the good word. See: Recommending theater to Dave Winer :-)
I could go and on about other subtle and overt ways technology has influenced theater.
The magic of theater is, of course, it can stir the deepest emotions in us. Fuerzabruta has a political aspect where the Argentinian director evokes the disappearances of loved ones. No technology was needed to bring out those powerful, unimaginably helpless feelings…”
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