Words by Peter Davis
Photos by Ken Stanek
I go to the theater. I sometimes get to make theater. I think about how store front theater is different from community theater. I apply theater best practices to my consulting business, Better Brand Story. Every now and then I’m going to write about theater for What Weekly.
World View
A script and an empty space…now what? What guides our decision making as to how to fill that space? Why bother to fill it at all? What does the story mean? Why does that matter? Our premise is that the world of the play is the stage and we know we’re pretending. Don’t be literal. Go minimal. Use only what’s necessary to tell the story. Filler diminishes theatricality and dilutes meaning. I think Single Carrot Theater in Station North does a great job filling their challenging space only with things that relate to the story and signify the meaning of it. I like the Strand space on Charles and what they do with it. Both are inventive. I waver on whether the Strand is store front or Community Theater.
Other World View
While I don’t want to be a reviewer of plays I do see them. I would like to have conversations with local producers about their work and process. When attending a play I always ask myself after the show: Did the production come close to being what it wanted to be? Did it want enough?
Current
I’m putting a cast and crew together for a play I’m directing this summer that’s part of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival. It’s called Asking Questions by Nancy Murray. I caught Nancy’s spoken word performance last spring at an Instant Gratification happening at Gallery 778. Her writing knocked me out. While her script and her spoken word are much different they both evoke vivid images, strong feelings and convey deep meaning. Actors will be able to really lean into their characters. I am drawn to this potential.
Putting your cast and crew together is complicated. The stakes are high. Not being from Baltimore I don’t have a network of go-to people for casting, designing and running productions. I’m putting a cast and crew together through a few relationships and a lot of referrals. At times it’s a leap of faith. I want to work with people who have skills of course, but also people I like, who are motivated, and bring humor, energy and ideas to the cause.
When your options are limited it is hard to resist the first decent person who says “yes” to the opportunity. The opportunity being that you get to work hard and smart for very next to nothing. Adding value to that bargain is one of my biggest responsibilities as a Director.
Smalltimore People
Kevin Griffin Moreno, shape note singer, is playing the central male character, a narcissist with a heart of gold. It will be his first full-length play and first extended rehearsal period. How exciting for him that he gets to put a character together and figure out his process. That’s the value-add for him.
I invited local artist/performer, Heather Joi, to design the set. Bringing outside-the-discipline artists to the cause is cool because they see and feel things that may be in delicious contrast to how I see them. Contrast gets you friction which gets you sparks! Heather’s right brain is a thing of beauty and I need someone who, as a rule, doesn’t take things too literally to help me create an interesting and exciting world-of-the-play.
Aran Keating, Founder, Baltimore Rock Opera Society is designing the sound. He’s another person with a track record of great ideas. I mean double-feature rock operas! That’s the ticket. When you’re budget is small your ideas need to be big.
Our motto is: Want more, know what matters, and pretend bigger.
I’m surrounded by great people. So…we have a script and an empty space. We have committed people and a shared purpose. We have limitations. We have a guiding concept or controlling idea for our production. We have chemistry. We got friction!
Words by Peter Davis
Photos by Ken Stanek
