Didn't I already see this show?

There are a lot of things I like about theatre in opposition to Television or Film. First among them is the presence, of the actors and audience. It's cool in a movie theater to have a shared experience, but it is nothing like the shared experience of seeing a show with 30 to 150 people in a dark room where anything can happen. The biggest surprise in a movie theater is if someone is going to sush the due on his cell phone or it the film is going to break (as we move to all digital it will just be the sushing suspense.) TV, well I supose anything could happen, it's your house. Lots of spontaneous phone calls, neighbors stopping by to borrow sugar, a "domestic disturbance," or even romantic interludes. But it's not really the same thing is it?

Here in DC I like that we do shows, and let them go and that's part of the process. I know in New York the shows run for a decade, and a show that runs for 20 or so performances is considered a flop, but I contend that this is one of the ways we keep ourselves (collective as a community) fresh. Leave the ridiculous runs to Sheer Madness, that's what they are there for.

So this "Edgy" downtown theatre taking its hit of last year out to the sticks kind of irks me. I know a lot of the politics as well, but that's not what bothers me. It's that now we are suppose to accept that everyone gets to review it again - I admit several of the actors have changed, and if we are to take direction form Mr. Marks then even one cast change warrants a revisit. But come on. They have instituted a $10 policy as well, because a donor thought the show was so important? I don't know about you, but in my experience with the theatre business, you cut prices because you can't fill the house and your trying to make up money on volume. I'd have to say that that's what I believe is going on here.

The show is good, we all know that. And there in lies the problem. We all know it's good because we already saw it, and when we did we could take the metro or walk and didn't have to take out a loan to fill up the car to get out to the sticks. It's a big risk to do a remount; even the Shakespeare Theatre's yearly remount is free. You must have a demand from people who didn't get to see the show, and in this area a show does well when everyone who likes and is addicted to the theatre goes, but that is about it. We don't have the New York audience because, well, we don't have the population. Extensions are great, but even they don't always pan out. I'd much rather go see a show that was extended than one that was remounted.

Now that I've said that I'm sure I'll be offered a remount in the next two months. Awe Balls.