Performance Areas

Does venue change the message? I know all want to think that Broadway is better theatre and you are willing to pay a bigger ticket price because it is Broadway, but does it change the message of the piece?? I always thought this answer would be no, because your message is your message. I never realized how affected the piece would be in different settings.

Of course, I have thought about the idea of a piece being done in a Thrust Theatre instead of Proscenium, but never about Ford Theatre verses our Playhouse. In all honesty, I do not think it makes a big difference what theatre it is in. However, theatre that goes beyond the realm of the ticket-buying, sit in a cushy seat, watch the curtain go up theatre requires analysis of the venue.

When watching Couple in a Cage I realized how different it would be at the Smithsonian. The ticket buyers all go to that venue expecting to see historically accurate pieces in order to learn about culture. We never believe that we are going to see a fake version of the Hope Diamond or Judy Garland's slippers from the Wizard of Oz. So, put a fake piece of culture in there and we are stooping the audience and already putting a fake stamp of approval on the validity of the claim. I totally disagree with showing Couple in a Cage at such a historically-oriented place.

The piece on the lawn of a building or in the street or at a party, there is always the option that it may not be true. It is up to the interpretation of the viewer to believe it is true. There is no presupposed agreement that it is, like at the Smithsonian. When theatre cannot be interpretted any other way but truthful, is this wrong? Yes.