In college, our motto was “more theater, less drama,” but we usually failed at the second half. Invariably, since emotions and tensions run high during creating “art” or whatever it is that eventually gets put onstage, drama will ensue. It could be the typical drama associated with any high-energy project: stress, clashing personalities, differing perspective, and so on. It could also be unnecessary drama, e.g. that created by divas, uncooperative types, or those who simply can’t keep on schedule or make a deadline.
What types of unnecessary drama do you feel permeate Charlottesville theatre? Is there any?
Are we all one big happy family? Is there pressure or unreasonable demands from those external to the theatrical community here? More importantly, is there any way to weed out this unnecessary drama or deal with it constructively? In the end, we should all play together nicely … “should” being the operative term here …
I’ve honestly had a really good experience with Charlottesville theater so far, but I sometimes catch rumors or glimpses into deeper conflicts that lay underneath the surface of our volunteer-rich community here. So I’m wondering if it’s a lurking iceberg ready to sink our community theater, or if it’s just the normal murkiness that comes from large numbers of people collaborating on projects together.
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Biggest thing going on is the amount of ego, here, I think.
It’s a dramatic competition. Who’s changing the way we look at theater? Who’s “pushing the envelope?” Who’s really catering to the community? Is it UVA? Is it Live Arts? Is it Heritage? Is it Play On? The murkiness, in my opinion, is the lack of support community organizations have w/ each other.
Granted, the support is there sometimes. However, from my perspective w/ working w/ various venues you can see where the animosity lies: not realy w/in the group, but within the community.
Ditto on the amount of ego, Jombie … I sometimes have to stop and say, “But wait, this is community theater, can’t we all just have fun??” I mean, if I wanted to do theater as a business, I’d be in NYC, right? I love Charlottesville theater, don’t get me wrong, but let’s be honest - it’s not Chicago or NYC or Seattle or any kind of big city with a serious theater business.
Also, I’m not sure if “pushing the envelope” always equals “catering to the community” - sometimes (not always) I think these are at odds with each other, so a theater is forced to choose one or the other.