So, You're Broke but Love the Arts?

Photo in Public Domain: http://tinyurl.com/9kb

Well, it's a new semester for me, and that means more time in class, less time to work, and no money to spend. Yup, that's right. So, how can someone who blogs about the arts have anything to say when she's broke? Well, I refuse to believe that just because one has no disposable income, that s/he can't take in the arts.

Here is a list of ways to take in the arts on a budget (or no budget, in my case). Opportunities like these are plentiful in my community and are likely to exist locally for you, as well. So, don't be detached from arts and culture, do as the artists do, and get creative!

Cordell Green Festival is the CATS Meow

I know I've written quite a bit about community theatre lately, but it's an area of the not-for-profit theatre realm that really moves and inspires me. This past weekend, I had the good fortune to be invited to participate as the director of a local new play festival produced by a small community theatre in the city where I live.

Photos courtesy of Zachery Kocurek, Lisa Hernandez, and CATS Theater

The Cordell Green Festival is a multi-step process which leads up to a day of performances. After a call for submissions, several plays are chosen by a committee of the theatre's board members to be presented in festival format. Also, a board member is chosen as producer to make the festival a reality. This year, a very hard-working and energetic young man named Zachery Kocurek brilliantly organized and orchestrated the event. Only the first act of each play is staged, and the playwright or the director (if the playwright isn't present) describes what happens in the remaining acts of the play. A group of board members is present to fill out a ballot for each play. The ballots have a rubric and space for notes. At the end of the day, the ballots are tallied, and a play is chosen to be fully-produced in the theatre's regular season.

Challenging Mediocrity

I saw a production of Into the Woods last week that reminded me why I love theatre so much.

It can be powerful. It can be transformative. It can be moving.

Photo courtesy of Lindsey Jensen Espinosa and Paris Community Theatre

But, quite often, it can be mediocre. What leads to mediocre theatre, and why do we settle for it?

I suppose some people lean to one extreme approach or another, creating a breeding ground for mediocrity.

One extreme is participating in theatre to have "fun." Now, I firmly believe making theatre should be fun. It should be joyous! But, that doesn't mean there isn't real, honest, hard work involved in the process. But, if it should only be fun, then process and eventually product are thrown out the window, so to speak. If anyone can act, and anyone can direct, and anyone can design and build, then there is no guidance, and a haphazard, ill-prepared production is the result.