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Nicole

and Team / Co
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Jul 22, 2013
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Arlington, VA
So, I was at a Shakespeare Theater Company presentation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest in DC this past weekend, when it occurred to me that maybe what the Globe needs is to host traveling theater troupes.

I'll admit right off that this could be a horrible idea:
- Presumably Williamsburg already has venues for such shows? 
- I honestly don't know the cost. 
- Despite all of the kids I saw Saturday night, who knows if real theater would be a draw for theme park-going families, even if it weren't just plays.

In any case, it just struck me that if they hosted real traveling productions, it would bring good quality performances into the park.  I also thought that if “the nation’s foremost Shakespeare company” can credibly present non-Shakespearean plays, why couldn't the Globe?
 
RE: Concepts Think Tank

I think this is a fantastic idea!  You could replace the summer event with different plays and shows.  It would bring different content and would be fairly cheap to run as many of the stage shows would come for low rates because they just want to bring attention to what they are doing.

The only problem I could see is how would the park be able to ensure nothing graphic would happen that would give them bad press.  You know, like a live sacrifice or something.
 
RE: Concepts Think Tank

^Bahahahaaaa.....live sacrifice!  I also agree that a rotating series of short plays is a fantastic idea! I went to a comedy recently in Richmond in a small theater. I believe it was called "Nunsense". It left my stomach in knots it was so funny. I would absolutely attend a show of this nature at BG repeatedly.
 
RE: Concepts Think Tank

Do you know how many local theater companies would love to do shows at BGW?  Local playwrites looking to make their mark.  I never did "Broadway" but I did a lot of off broadway stuff.  You would be surprised at the level of professionalism and quality local groups can bring.  And, it doesn't always have to be theater acts, you could bring in musical groups to do "for these days only" type of stuff...Picti, anyone?
 
RE: Concepts Think Tank

There was an amazing show I saw in London years ago that would have been perfect for a theme park (although perhaps not BG Europe).  I unfortunately cannot remember the name, and I can't find it anywhere in my email or on-line.  Regardless, my memory was of standing in the middle of a huge warehouse/room with paper spread overhead.  The performers spent most of the show doing things above the paper and off to the side (but still overhead).  But they also dropped water and random plastic toys on it, eventually breaking through.  I was so captivated by what was going on that I didn't even notice that I was standing for at least an hour.  I still have the plastic toy that fell in front of me somewhere.
 
RE: External Theater Companies at BGW

I was pondering the time issue, but it occurred to me that they could treat it like the concert series.  Maybe start the play in the later afternoon or something.

I mentioned it to a friend who comes with me to a lot of the special events and she asked, "Why don't they do this already?"
 
RE: External Theater Companies at BGW

I have a couple ideas. Maybe they could put together a 35min or so production, with cutscenes (on the patented BGW projectors of awesome) that explain what happens inbetween iconic scenes that are acted out. Not the full experience, but certainly some exposure to the source material for the uninitiated.

Or they could double, or even triple, that time, by putting on two 30-45min halfs, but performed at different times of the year. For example, Hamlet Act I from April to June, then Act II from July to September.

Or do a nighttime version that culminates in fireworks. Maybe it's a little more interperative and takes place in RPT. but I think that idea is farther away from your original idea.
 
RE: External Theater Companies at BGW

Interesting ideas.  But I was trying to bring in existing productions that are currently touring.  I think you spoil a play, show, whatever but extracting bits.  By the nature of how plays are written, you lose critical themes, motifs, and dialogue, if you try to provide an abridged version.  More importantly to me, the point was to have shows that didn't have any park "touches."  I think that by letting the park provide summaries of the parts you will miss, you are opening the doors to all sorts of awful.

My personal goal here was high quality.
 
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RE: External Theater Companies at BGW

Never have I hit THANKS so much in just one thread.  I love this idea!!  Would be so awesome to see different shows every so often; and repeats of the more popular ones.  Local would be awesome!!  Picti anyone?? ;)

But...just like some other imported acts (Gardino Magico 2013 from IllumiNights comes to mind), I fear this idea would get lost in the battle for content rights and whatnot.  Who owns the show and who has copyright to pictures, video, etc.  I don't claim to be an expert on such things though am making an effort to become so, but I have heard this stuff thrown around with other acts that have come to the park.


EDIT:

And yes Nic, hands-off from the BGW folk. Let the tours do their thing their way.
 
RE: External Theater Companies at BGW

Presumably the question of rights is long-since established within the industry.  Shows tour all of the time.  In this case BGW would just be another venue, like very other theater the productions use.
 
RE: External Theater Companies at BGW

^Some individuals have made this an issue as I understand it (right or wrong) and outside artists/production owners don't like it.  Just sayin'...
 
Yea I definitely see what you're saying about the concerns over an abridged version. I just don't know if you'd be able to sell a family on sitting down in a theater for more than 45min when there's roller coasters a few hundred feet away. If they did implement a shortened version, maybe they could do something like this: http://www.30minuteshakespeare.com/reviews .

If it were the full production though, do you see this as an upcharge? (discounts for passmembers!) That's the only way I could see people sitting in a theme park to watch a play.
 
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