Our lives will never again replicate the less chaotic Pre-COVID era. This New Normal will encompass many shifts in our recreational as well as work lives. For writers and actors, the stories they create and perform in will more than ever be a fluid mix-and-match proposition and, yes, that's also the case with theater makers' audiences. Whatever moves you is what counts, no matter the format.
Money remains an important motivation for playwrights and actors to put their work in front of a camera instead of an audience at a theater. Even before the pandemic shut down theaters, stage professionals found they were able to create cutting-edge filmed dramas and even die-hard theater fans watched them. Though theaters have reopened, with some exciting new shows as well as interesting and timely reboots of old favorites, live presentations will continue to share the spotlight with stories structured for onscreen watching.
Given the enormous shift in attitudes about making and consuming cultural fare, the following are some observations about the hows and whys of these shifts.
Why Onscreen Playwriting is No Longer Viewed as a Creative Dead End
Many playwrights who first came to television to support their stage work felt it meant putting their creativity on hold for a while. However, as they learned to take advantage of television's technology, they found themselves exploring ideas in ways not possible before a live audience. The cash-collecting pit stop resulted in work they could take pride in. And so, the relationship between theater and television evolved into more of a satisfying marriage. The popularity of series enabled the scripters to more fully develop characters and subplots not possible in theaters where 90-minute intermission-less shows outnumbered longer ones.
Some playwrights expanded their TV work to become show runners. That meant they not only wrote but handled the production details. Since that included staffing and playwrights tend to hire stage writers and actors, those hires actually made television more theatrical in nature. Best of all, many of these writers have managed to go back and forth and thus consolidate that marriage of once vastly different cultural entities.
Why Performing On Screen Has Many Actors No Longer Subscribing to the Saying About Money Being the Root of All Evil
Every actor wants to be seen by as large an audience as possible. Thus, as money is the initial incentive for tackling onscreen work for actors as well as writers, filmed productions are huge audience builders. Sure, some stage plays and musicals enjoy many productions, but once filmed it tends to reach an even larger audience, often drawing complete theater newbies. Case-in-point: Angela Lansbury, whose recent departure from life's stage marked the final act in a justly lauded personal and professional life. While she was already famous, especially for musicals like Gypsy and Sweeney Todd, it took a cozy murder series on TV, Murder She Wrote, to make her a world-wide icon. Everybody knew and loved Angela-cum-Jessica Fletcher.
Besides fame and fortune, TV has also been a means for actors to learn new ways to connect to their viewers. The camera closeup puts every viewer in the front row. While connecting to a live audience is something stage actors have always found invaluable, the ability to get it right for screen viewers provides equally invaluable free time to be with friends and family. If older actors like the superb Derek Jacobi feel nervous about remembering lines or just being before a large audience, working in a film studio can be a way to keep doing what they love. Though all who've had a chance to see Jacobi on stage are grateful to have done so, everyone can watch the many memorable roles he's played in movies and on TV.
How Convenient Access and Quality Have Changed Behaviors of Even Diehard Live Theater-Goers
Undoubtedly, the experience of attending a live performance will always be special and emotionally stirring. That said, if producers keep making really good filmed versions of their plays and musicals, as the producers of Hamilton did, then the ability to watch from the comfort of one's living room without paying a small fortune for a ticket is indeed tempting. What's more, with many well crafted and absorbing productions created specifically for onscreen viewing, this type of theatrical outing will continue to be a mix-and-match of formats for our viewing entertainment.
I'm feeling optimistic that one format will boost another -- for example, while people unable to see what's probably this season's best new play, Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt, can read the playscript (available in print or digitally), the onscreen promotions available on everyone's home screens feature many sample scenes so you can quite vividly visualize the main players and settings. Hopefully a current performance will be filmed eventually so that it will be seen by everyone who should see it -- even more people than the ones now filling the seats at its Broadway run -- including young people who know little about the Holocaust.
Why the More Diverse Viewing Options Have Created More Diverse New Entertainment In All Formats
As theater-viewing options have been increasingly diverse, so are the artists and their creative teams. Playwrights and directors not usually given a chance at prime cultural venues are now prominent everywhere. But that's not to say old habits are gone. Plays debuting on Broadway after years in more offbeat venues still seem to need a brand-name actor to sell tickets. Case in point: Adrienne Kennedy's Ohio State Murders stars African-American superstar Audra McDonald. And to underscore the theater community's commitment to more diversity, this long-delayed uptown debut is at the former Cort Theater, which is now renamed to honor another notable Black performer, James Earl Jones.
What nobody can change is the continued ever-rising cost of putting on a big show with a large cast and high-end production values. That's what finally did in The Phantom of the Opera, the musical that became a New York tourist attraction as much as a Broadway musical hit. Those costs are more likely to keep going up, making a reprieve unlikely.
Finally, actors looking for still more new ways to practice their craft have discovered podcasting, which is really a sort of return to radio. However, a caveat: podcasting has become so popular that it takes a lot of effort to attract listeners.
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