![]() ![]() Post-cuts, that new creative ideology is collaboration, collaboration, collaboration.The Berklee Theater Arts Collaborative (BTAC) is Berklee’s premier musical theater training program dedicated to the development and professional success of new musical theater writers, music directors, conductors, arrangers, instrumentalists, stage managers, and performers. Nick Hytner, the National theatre's artistic director, says the best work comes when artists are "exhilarated by a new creative ideology". Traditional models of budgeting will adapt and change, as ever more inventive collaborations are imagined. Partnerships will be forged at the inception of projects with multiple co-commissioners firmly committed, not taking a punt. There will be more co-producers per show, longer runs to help reduce costs, wider-ranging partners from corporates to education establishments to local communities. Over the next few years, we envisage the nature of partnerships changing. Now is the time to invest strategically, and deeply, in the top talent in this country. Handing out 20 commissions and hoping a couple of them make the stage is selective, not collaborative, and is exactly the sort of opulence that will see our funds slashed further. We've co-commissioned six playwrights so far this calendar year, and committed to producing all six plays, extending the ethos of collaboration to playwrights. Co-commissioning might reduce the number of commissions handed out to playwrights, but it improves the conversion rate from commission to productions. Last year, we employed 61 actors in nine productions on our own, we could have managed two. In fact, the opposite is true: it makes more productions possible. We've also heard the argument that co-producing reduces jobs for actors. Brand dilution is a concern, but we know from our audiences they don't care about billing as long as the work is good, and we're learning from the commercial sector here and in the US to focus more on partners and less on credits. Collaborating means constructive arguments as well as agreements. If collaboration is rooted in shared taste and clearly articulated objectives, then the more people at the table the better. We sometimes hear arguments against collaborating, but in our experience the old adage that too many cooks spoil the broth doesn't hold. ![]() The long-term plan is to offer the auditorium to other companies to maximise its usage. It's costing no more than it would to produce the three plays normally, but thousands more people across the country will get to see the work. The auditorium and three plays will then tour nationwide in the spring in collaboration with multiple theatres. #Itheater collaborative portableWith Sheffield Theatres, for example, we've conceived a 150-seat portable in-the-round auditorium within which we'll premiere three new plays in Sheffield in the autumn. In exchange, we can offer a long life on the road for productions that might otherwise have a limited run in one location, meaning more taxpayers in more places have access to ACE-subsidised work. By combining two or more bodies of staff, we access a greater wealth of ideas, experience and energy.Īt the inception of a project our core staff of five is bolstered by our partners' expertise, infrastructure, systems and facilities. But the mutual benefits of collaboration run deeper than the bottom line of the budget. The more co-producers, the cheaper the pre-production costs to each partner. Economically, the benefits of co-production are obvious. This year we are co-producing with eight other theatres and counting, enabling us to tour 11 productions to more than 40 towns and cities across the UK. We were fortunate enough to receive a small uplift last week and we intend to make the extra money go as far as possible by working with ever-more partners. ![]() We at touring company Paines Plough never work alone. The National theatre's relationship with Travelex is a beacon for corporate partnerships – and the National, along with the RSC, has embodied the spirit of post-cuts collaboration by offering to share their resources with smaller companies. Warwick Arts Centre widely co-produces with UK and international partners and an innovative hook-up with Druid has seen a fruitful cultural exchange between Galway and the Oxford Playhouse. The Young Vic's hotly anticipated I Am the Wind is multiply co-commissioned by a pan-European conglomerate. At the Drum theatre, the work Simon Stokes and David Prescott create with other buildings such as the Royal Court and Lyric Hammersmith, and companies such as Frantic Assembly and Told By An Idiot, make Plymouth a creative hub that resonates far beyond Devon. There are lots of success stories to draw upon. ![]()
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