[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

Re: RAT Response to Online Theater Comments Re. Cat Hebert

Indeed.  I just love John.
"They tried to tell us we're.."
"just artists"
when they bailed us out of jail
once a year
strangely just around Halloween.
i??
As for me,i??
i ? ?
?
?
----- Original Message -----
From: <SylvainBBB@aol.com>
To: <rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com>
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 1:20 PM
Subject: Re: RAT Response to Online Theater Comments Re. Cat Hebert


> A couple things:
>
> 1. I have been away from my email for a week so I am catching up on my
email. I am replying midstream and I might be repeating something that has
already been said. Sorry if this is the case.
>
> 2. Audie McCall, Allison, Peggy, Conrad...feels like old times!!!
>
> 3. There is a fundemental difference between an electronic or mechanical
reproduction of a performance and a live performance. The experience is
DIFFERENT. Not necessarily better or worse.
>
> 4. 90% of everything is crap. 90% of TV is crap. 90% of theater is crap.
90% of film is crap. 90% of photography is crap.
>
> 5. Nobody sets out to make a bad movie. Unbelievable as that may seem.
This "movies and tv = bad art" thing that some RATS express have is
bordering on moronic. Most movies suck but some are great. Movies and TV are
made with the business side of show business more in mind. But you can't run
a theater without keeping the business side in mind at little. (You can
maybe put up One show with NO BUSINESS CONCERNS to cloud your pure art high.
You'll probably end up in jail, however, or at least have most of the people
involved hate you.)
>
> Business is not just money. It's scheduling tech and rehearsal and having
a box office person to greet the audience and sweeping the stage and
printing the programs and all that stuff.
>
> 6. Obviously there is no easy way to make great art. That's why its so
rare. What works for one person or group may not work for another.
>
> That said the thing that REALLY bugs me is self righteousness. People who
are self righteous really should take a long look at themselves and think
really hard about where they get off declaring how people should act
and....um.....hmmm....never mind.
>
> Excelsior!!!
> John
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated Wed, 16 May 2001 10:07:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Cat
Hebert <virtualdrama@juno.com> writes:
>
> << Any medium is what it is made to be. If a particular experience
requires
> 3D, 2D isn't going to cut it. (My main interest is immersive,
> interactive, VR storytelling, so believe me, 2D performances don't excite
> me.)
>
> However, where the *dialogue* or the *content* of a piece are primary,  a
> 2D translation can work somewhat better -- so the Gurney makes sense.
> What people need to do is to make sure to include the interactive
> component -- allowing people to talk to the characters or to talk with
> the actors separately. That enhances the notion of community.
>
> And... remember, I'm calling this hybrid form "theater" so that live
> theater can get some bounceback from it. People noodling in front of a
> camera isn't much different than people noodling in front of a campfire,
> is it?  *That* to me is theater -- the family, community basis of acted
> out stories.  The most powerful theater I've ever been part of was/is
> various forms of psychodrama (my background is partly in clinical psych).
> That doesn't translate well *at all* to non-interactive forms. And it
> isn't really "professional" in the usual sense.
>
> Since the hi-tech forms have hi-touch coming in the not-too-distant
> future [just saw a great demo in NYC], I see theater as an ideal approach
> to those new forms of storytelling. And I would like for an entire
> generation (and not just a few of the anointed/selected/groomed) to have
> access to the community-sharing that theater can bring.
>
> Cheers,
> Cat Hebert
>
>
> >
> > Your comments about doing online "theatre" do sound interesting. But
> > of
> > course, you're not talking about theatre. You're talking about
> > people
> > noodling in front of a camera. You're talking about more Internet
> > "films."
> > Yup, we sure need more of those.
> >
> > By definition, if it's got a camera on it, and/or it goes online,
> > then it's
> > TV or new media. If it's not driven by audience reaction (as in
> > plays that
> > people want to see), it's likely to combine the worst of both
> > forms.
> >
> > For the best of what "televised" theatre can be, check out Stage On
> > Screen's
> > adaptations of Gurney and others. It's a hybrid form that stays true
> > to
> > theatrical roots -- or as much as it can.
> >
> > You also say that lots of theatre is elitist or out of touch.
> > All the more reason to follow the companies that prize language,
> > offer
> > stories that provoke and great acting/writing.  Live theatre.  That
> > speaks to
> > people.   Not new media stuff that potentially adds to the dreck and
> > dross of
> > the Internet.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------
> > To [un]subscribe to the rat-list, send an email to
> > "majordomo@ratconference.com"
> > with [un]subscribe rat-list" in the body of the message.
> > For information on other functions send a message containing the
> > word
> > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.
> > ---------------------------------------
> > You may also [un]subscribe on the web at
> > http://www.ratconference.com/cgi-bin/web_domo.pl?list=rat-list
> >
> ________________________________________________________________
> GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
> Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
> Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
> http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------
> To [un]subscribe to the rat-list, send an email to
"majordomo@ratconference.com"
> with [un]subscribe rat-list" in the body of the message.
> For information on other functions send a message containing the word
> "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.
> ---------------------------------------
> You may also [un]subscribe on the web at
http://www.ratconference.com/cgi-bin/web_domo.pl?list=rat-list
>  >>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------
> To [un]subscribe to the rat-list, send an email to
"majordomo@ratconference.com"
> with [un]subscribe rat-list" in the body of the message.
> For information on other functions send a message containing the word
> "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.
> ---------------------------------------
> You may also [un]subscribe on the web at
http://www.ratconference.com/cgi-bin/web_domo.pl?list=rat-list




---------------------------------------
To [un]subscribe to the rat-list, send an email to "majordomo@ratconference.com"
with [un]subscribe rat-list" in the body of the message.
For information on other functions send a message containing the word
"help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.
---------------------------------------
You may also [un]subscribe on the web at http://www.ratconference.com/cgi-bin/web_domo.pl?list=rat-list