In celebration of Indie Theatre Week (July 23 - July 29, 2012), we asked members of the OOB community to share some of the Indie Theatre moments that inspired them.
Contributed by Aaron Simms
There is nothing more
inspirational than the spirit of the independent artist. They hold down two or three jobs at a time in
order to quit one in case they book a show that doesn’t pay anything. They will stay up through the night applying
hot glue in ways never before conceived to build a prop. They will spend weeks contemplating a redraft
of a scene; fearing its ineffectiveness and loss of social resonance if it had
one less alien character in it? They
will spend a year raising money to produce plays outdoors when there is an
almost certain chance of cancellation due to inclimate weather. Why?
Why do these things? Why live
this way? Because they must.
Independent theater artists
are guided and driven, perhaps divinely, by an incomprehensible need to
create. Deep impulses constantly
stimulate their imagination. They are passionately moved to such an extent that
if they chose to negate, or not answer “the call” from these urges they would
suffer a loss of self-identity.
Therefore they honor this vitality by obeying this need through the
manifestation of their craft. They shun
convention. Their methods are illogical.
Their choices, at times, unethical. The compulsion of their desire is their
compass. They have no choice. They must.
But where can the artist find
fulfillment for their vision?
The independent theater of
Off-Off-Broadway.
Commercial and nonprofit
opportunities for new plays in New York (and affordable ones at that) have
become a rarity. Regionally, there has
been a growing trend for nonprofit theaters to produce tried-and-true standards
in order to appease their boards with a healthy box office. Atoning for this, Off-Off-Broadway has given
independent theater artists, especially playwrights, the freedom to fully
realize their artistic vision. The work
happening Off-Off-Broadway is made by people who aren’t waiting for someone to
tap them on the shoulder and anoint them.
They are doing it. Mounting new
and classic works at spaces such as HERE, The Brick, Under St. Marks and going
into the parks, parking
lots, and porches as they extend the boundaries of their imagination.
What is truly fascinating,
and a bit ironic, about creating independent theater is that it thrives from
the collaborative support of a dedicated community of artists. It could be said that actors, stage managers,
directors, playwrights, designers, and producers and are all one degree away
from each other in Off-Off-Broadway.
They share the same spirit as they share their resources to accomplish
their goals; such as the BFG collective
pulling their resources in order to have each of their seasons realized at The Secret
Theater.
However, there is one essential
relationship, above all, which validates the independent artist’s work. The relationship with their audience. People from all distances come willing and
curious; seeking to be enlightened, moved, shocked, and amazed. They search the
plethora of shows on nytheatre.com
to choose one that sparks their interest.
Like the artist, they seek out productions as if following a muse;
anticipating not only the promise of an entertaining story, but contemplating
how, with what alchemy, will it unfold.
This shared connection
fulfills the artists need to have their work realized. For there is no greater
inspiration to an artist than having an audience. This, in turn, prompts them to create more
work. Because they must.
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Aaron Simms: Producing Artistic Director of The Back
Porch. Associate Producer for Moose HallTheater Company/Inwood Shakespeare Festival.
Broadway production credits: Sister
Act, Evita, Peter Pan, Cirque Dreams, Jersey Boys, Cirque du Soleil’s Wintuk. Off Broadway: Rent.
Regional performance credits include: American Stage Theater, Cincinnati
Playhouse in the Park, Stage First, Human Race Theater, Theater West Virginia,
Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, J City Theatre, and Milwaukee Repertory
Theater. TV: One Life To Live, All My Children, As the World Turns. AEA,
SAG-AFTRA, IATSE. Follow at @TheaterCreator
