TALE END - the marketing of a new play.
by Marcel Nunis
(independent playwright/director/producer)
As a creator of new works it used to frustrate me to no end that theatre companies would not even look at a new piece unless it had already been produced. So, in the 1990's I formed my own production company. Well, that solved that problem... sort of.
Over the years as an independent producer I learned that one has to wear hat upon hat in order to be effective in the real world of the arts. I, at first reluctantly had to learn skills that (shudder) was not part of my craft. (Come on... just let me write... that's all I wanna do!) In time, I got over it and embraced those other skills (graphic & web design, etc) as part and parcel of my chosen gig.
FAST FORWARD... ... to the Fall of 2006. I was writing my first new play in 5 years. I had come head on up against a creative wall in the writing. While waiting for that engine to be jump started again, I decided to begin marketing of the not yet completed new work. (This is a trick that I have used for years. It's called "PUT YOUR BIG FOOT IN YOUR BIG MOUTH SO YOU HAVE TO DELIVER THE GOODS!") Works like a charm everytime... at least where completing the piece is concerned.
sidebar: I had read somewhere that playwrights are notorious for doing this. British playwright Alan Ackbourn would actually book a London theater for a run just to force himself to write the damn play.
OPEN MOUTH... INSERT FOOT I had already begun blogging about my frustrations on my personal blog... this post is an example. I decided that (to really motivate myself with the possibility of grand humiliation) I would go full bore and blog about it on the theatre company site. I had recently redesigned the company site (adding this blog to it) and figured that at least our stalwart supporters would find reading about the "process" mildy interesting.
I had also recently acquired some great video editing software (don't ask how) and decided to teach myself this new skill. So, with a borrowed DV camera I produced THIS VIDEO and uploaded it to Daily Motion and YouTube. I also embeded the video there. All this cost me was the investment of time (2 days.) Surely this would create tons of interest in this brand new (and not yet completed) project.
STRATEGY (creating a promotional thrust)
I decided that I didn't just want to hook in the usual suspects (theatre nerds) but also perhaps bring in a BRAND NEW audience to my (yet completed show) that was slated to be mounted at the 2007 Rogue Festival in March. (If you are shooting for grand humiliation... go big, I say.) So, I devised a promotion strategy.
sidebar: In so doing I was reminded of this... "Every discipline of the arts is a medium of communication." for more on this go here.
Anyway, this is what I came up with: Create excitement (or at least intrigue) with the creation of a brand new play!! (Note: The exclamation points... this generally means "create excitement"... at least I was excited by this. BTW... if you are not excited about your own "product"... don't expect anyone else to be.)
How Would I Accomplish This? The Internet. (Afterall, not everyone is surfing for porn... ) This "new media" has hardly been tapped by the arts community (at least effectly)... if nothing else this would be a worthy (and affordable) experiment.
TOOLS I WOULD USE...
BLOGGING: From the standpoint of a potential audience the interactive nature of blogging provides a personal "buy in" to a project. (Come on... how many of us buy those "special edition" DVD's just to watch those "making of" mini features before actually watching the main feature?) So, in effect I was using this tool to give readers a "making of" as it was happening and creating a personal "insiders scoop" to the show.
MYSPACE: Everyone has one these days and it's a great way to "harvest" potential audience through "friending" and to send out bulletins to broadcast what is happening.
VIDEOS: With the rise of YouTube the potential grows to create "promotional videos" the way the "big guys" do. Everyone loves visuals... especially if they move.
LOCAL E-ZINES: In Fresno (where we are located) there is a great "citizen journalism" site (that is now owned by the local paper) called FresnoFamous.com where anyone can post articles or blog.
EMAIL DIGEST OR NEWS LETTERS: Again in Fresno (where we still are located) one exist called Mindhub.org that many in the "creative class" subscribe to. (Talk about a potential audience!)
I was still creatively blocked where the actual writing of the play was concerned... so why not exercise my creativity elsewhere? (Really, I didn't even have a title for the play yet.) The choice was between dawdling and picking my nose or perhaps jump start (and perhaps get unblocked) by exercising those muscles in another area of communication.
Find out in Part 2 how I used these tools. (coming soon!)
When you've watched enough theatre performances, you can tell when the cast is having an off night. It was tonight.
Here's the American Idol review:
Randy says: "Yo Dog, wha's happ'nen' dog? You know, you did your thing, dog. It was a little pitchy in places, but you did your thing, man."
Paula says: "Oh, gosh. I mean, gosh. Greg and Renee are so beautiful on stage. I just sorta wish, you know, that I could see Renee more. She needs to open up more to the audience...I felt bad for the people on the outside seats who saw her back much of the time. A beautiful back, tho..."
Simon says (c'mon, do the accent in your head): "Well, for me, to be honest, I could see where the playwrite was going with this, but it might have been better read than performed. Some of the dialogue, exposition and references got bogged down and were tough to perform, no matter how good the actors were."
Ryan Seacrest then jokes "Okay, let me get this straight. Renee's character is supposed to be what? 22 or 23? She looks 26. Greg's character is supposed to be near 40? He looks 28. And he's s'posed to have a bald spot? Um, no."
Randy: "Man, dog, I was thinkin' that, dog, but my problem was I sat in the back row and couldn't hear Greg half the time, or else he was shoutin', dog. It was rough, dog..."
Paula: "I think Greg should have been in his underwear. No, kidding. No, serious."
Simon: "Paula, I agree with you on one thing...because I didn't understand the whole 'does she get naked' marketing thing. It took away from a great story idea and one of the most solid plays from Marcel I'd seen. I know you have to get arse's into seats, but, and I'm not being rude, but it took away from things."
Paula: "I just think if she has to act in her nightgown, Greg has to strip at gunpoint to his chonies."
Simon: "Paula, you're drunk."
And she, of course, is.
Rather than try to summarize the plot of Tale End, because getting there is far more than half the fun, I’ll just offer a few comments of the short, choppy variety.
Tale End is intriguing, funny, well-staged and well-performed, sexy, mysterious, dense and smart. At times you’ll be scratching your head a bit wondering what the hell’s going on, and enjoying that sensation of head-scratching along that way. And really, what’s better than a little head scratching? Numerous and unexpected plot twists and a clever concept. And it’s selling out, so line up on time.
Barry Smith