What Makes You Theatre?

Today, as I was surveying what various LORT (League of Resident Theatres) theatres were communicating through their websites, I began reading posts in the Actors Theatre of Louisville blog. A post from May 8th contained a discussion of and a link to the Theatre Communications Group I AM THEATRE YouTube channel. Although I have seen a few of these videos over the past year, as the project is part of the TCG 50th Anniversary, I had not taken the time to really take in the relevance of the project.

It began with a group of 50 theatre practitioners selected by TCG to tell their individual stories of how and why they are theatre. Actors, directors, music directors, playwrights, educators, administrators, and more are represented. After visiting the TCG I AM THEATRE page, I realized the project is much more than just the stories of top professionals hand-selected by TCG. Those first fifty videos were created to encourage everyone involved in theatre to tell their stories. What a great idea!



This is so much more than something as simple and quickly forgotten as a facebook post or Tweet. This is a wonderful way to assign faces and voices to others who do and love what we do and love as fellow practitioners. From an administrative standpoint, I also find it satisfying that the project also has close ties to TCG's core values statement. I think the most important part of this project isn't just the personalization of an art form and industry, it's the visualization of a diverse "society" of theatre practitioners. To me, this is a true "social network" for anyone involved in theatre, and if I had the power as an individual to make this project "go viral," I would in a heartbeat. 

Unfortunately, the project was planned to last for 50 weeks, during the 50th Anniversary of TCG. I think this is an important tool that we should be sharing, and I don't think it should end as TCG enters it's 51st Anniversary year this month. I hope that theatre practitioners are inspired to continue telling their stories, and that they share them in a video format, allowing us, in a way, to have a conversation about why WE ARE THEATRE. My hope is that this could bring together professionals from U.S. not-for-profit professional theatre, but also from community theatres, and theatres outside the U.S., so that we can learn from each other and be inspired by each other.

This is also a way to give a face to your organization for your audience or potential audience. Even patrons are encouraged by TCG to create videos about being audience members. This is potentially a dialogue creating PR tool for organizations, and it's a way to add a very personal touch to what makes you theatre.

I hope that you, too are as moved by this project as I am, and I also hope you enjoy watching the videos on YouTube. And please, go out and tell your story.

To borrow a quote from TCG.org, "I AM THEATRE. YOU ARE THEATRE. WE ARE THEATRE."

Until next time...
Ro Huizinga