Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish. (Ovid) There is no plan. (Daniel Pink: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko) Ounce by ounce, putting it togetherSmall amounts, adding up to make a work of artFirst of all you need a
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This is being written over 10 years after several theatre friends based in the UK and the USA Matt Boothman, Travis Bedard, ‘Old Bear’ and yours truly had been chatting for about a week on a site called Utterli – a kind of mini-podcasting application at the time. We’d turned our attention to the theatre’s use
Continue reading ...I heard a great interview this morning on ABC612 Brisbane with Sam Strong, the ‘newish’ (since last November) Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company. Among other things, Sam sketched out some of his ideas to make QTC a national theatre leader. Anyway, it was exciting and refreshing to hear Sam hint at his plans and talk up his
Continue reading ...The theatre tribe in my neck of the woods uses Facebook … a lot. They’re gradually coming round to Twitter. Blogs are not as popular … no surprises there. Social networking is being used, as you might expect, as a community support mechanism providing news, keeping in touch, promoting shows, providing links to items of
Continue reading ...… the fact of the matter is that arts marketers are not in the business of selling cigarettes or cars or toilet paper. We’re in the business of selling art. And, theatre is distinguishable from all other arts because it is the one medium in which there is a direct expression of the human condition.
Continue reading ...As always, read the whole post Why They Don’t Come Back (yes, on audiences and theatre) from a newly-discovered US-based blogger. This is a snippet that resonates with me right now. I think it’s in our interest to be a lot harder on theatre-making. How many of your friends are working on a bad show
Continue reading ...Icons, branding, labels … the medium as message, but what’s the message or meaning when it comes to theatre labels? There are lots around, and I’m curious about one in particular – independent. I see it and its diminutive and the very buzzy word indie everywhere. I’m sufficiently that way inclined – too much of
Continue reading ...As the weekend turns towards the Oscar ceremonies on Sunday night (US) Monday morning (AU), AO Scott writes in the NY Times about the contenders in the Oscar race this year and especially on what he calls the David v Goliath battle of blockbuster up against little movies that can. It’s also about the way
Continue reading ...Worth a complete read but here is the nub of the matter : No matter your geographic focus, social networks are fundamentally about forming a community and having conversations. Therefore, having a clear purpose in mind when you choose your networks is essential. We’ve all heard the adage “the medium is the message.” It means
Continue reading ...There’s a Twitter discussion happening right now hashtagged #artsed . The hashtag acts as a search key for tweets that have anything to do with arts education, but this particular thread of the discussion is focussing on the issue of professional training for artists – more particularly theatre artists, and especially actors. The originating posts
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