Comments About Community Theatre

Let's take a closer look at some of the comments from this post. Ryan Hardiman has some great observations about community theatre. He wrote:

My original comments weren’t directed as much toward the issue of censorship as they were on the thought process that goes into choosing a show to produce, and how much of that decision may be based on the appropriateness of the show.

I wonder, how many shows aren't even considered by local groups because they're not “happy” shows. An example is Sweeney Todd. I feel that some of the shows I am most interested in, while they are not necessarily offensive, are never produced locally because they contain either darker themes or material that might warrant a PG or PG13 rating if they were films. I understand that community theatre needs to attract a large audience in order to pay all the bills and make a profit. But I think a misconception is that only time-tested classics and very family-friendly shows will bring in an audience. There’s nothing wrong with those shows in my opinion. I love some of them… but if that’s all that is ever produced, Huntington runs the risk of stagnating and misses out on some great theatre that we are just afraid to take a chance on.

I realize that the dominant community theatre groups in Huntington concentrate on children’s shows and outdoor family based theatre, and I fully understand the limitations of that. Marshall University is its own animal, because it doesn’t fully depend on ticket sales or community support to survive, and therefore is able to take on shows that explore more difficult themes. The thing is, MU shows are almost always sold out. So there is an audience in Huntington for those kinds of shows.

I have been at parties talking with fellow thespians and ideas for shows will often come up in conversation. And you can feel the excitement in the air… The theatre community really wants to do these shows!… but when it comes down to actually putting one of these shows onstage, themes involving death, violence, sexual innuendo, language or tragedy in general seem to send up red flags. The thing is, a lot of these fears are sometimes based on a false perception or a distant memory of the shows, and the themes are not as bad as you think you remember.

I’m not advocating that we introduce more risky shows just for the sake of including adult content, or that we shouldn’t ever censor shows. There is certainly some responsibility to exercise good judgement and consider your audience. But on the other hand we shouldn’t be so afraid of losing an audience that we are afraid to take on shows that have such potential to actually revitalize an audience base. What will the future audiences want to see onstage? And when do we begin to make that transition locally?

What I love about theatre is that it can present all of the elements of life…happiness, pain, comedy, fear, love, suspense, guilt, passion…and it takes place right in front of us…with real people. When it’s done well, there is a strong connection. For me, the experience is far more immediate and intense than watching TV or movies. This is probably why people are hesitant to put the same content on the local stage that they would accept and enjoy on TV or movies. When you are in public, seeing people you know display the very same behavior and language and going through the very same emotions, it hits you much harder… That should be an asset, and a reason to take on more challenging and emotionally provocative shows.

Excellent comments, Ryan! (I should mention that I edited Ryan's comments for length - you can read the entire thing in the comments section of this post.)

I absolutely agree that there's an audience out there looking for more mature shows. It's a market that Marshall University has a corner or right now, but there are so many great shows out there that the existing, family-friendly groups aren't going to tackle. Certainly several groups in Charleston have enjoyed success tackling those kinds of shows - does anyone really think a group in Huntington can't find the same success?