Completing the Circle

24.8.08

“The Audience Project taught me that the more information we can share with an audience about the process, rules, hopes, dreams, and intentions, the more audiences will feel the space to participate and, indeed, complete the circle” (79).

This quote was taken from And Then, You Act by Anne Bogart. I have always held Bogart's views on theatre as generally insightful and this quote put what I am doing here into perspective. I realised why I felt the need to start this blog. Although the obvious reason was to publicise the productions I direct – itself an important goal – but I also desired to communicate with you what was happening rather than simply creating a production in isolation. Too often when I direct shows I feel I am stumbling in the dark and have only a small group of people to whom I can speak about what I am doing in the rehearsal room. However – with a blog - I can now communicate with my audiences before the production opens. This not only prepares my audience for what they are going to see but allows them to take some ownership over the process.

A blog also makes completing the cycle easier. Particularly with that little comments button then you can give me feedback on how you felt the show went, what you enjoyed, what didn't work so well etc. This is the on vital step that is all too often missing in theatre. Sure, there are the reviews but – and particularly in Dunedin – there are all too few of these to give comprehensive feedback on what we are doing.