Millennium Theatres
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Millennium Theatres Discovering Community Theatre’s Future By Exploring Its Past Millennium Theatre - I - Millennium Theatres Discovering Community Theatre’s Future By Exploring Its Past Published by Theatre USA With the cooperation of the American Association of Community Theatre & The City of Detroit Department of Recreation, Empowerment Zone Millennium Theatre - II - Theatre USA (formerly IATA/USA) WHAT IS IT? Made up of six national organizations with individual members in every state, Theatre USA is the powerful voice of the USA amateur theatre community speaking to the world. Its parent organization AITA is a non-governmental organization (NGO) having official relations with UNESCO, and is a member of the Standing Committee of International Theatre Organizations. The International Amateur Theatre Association (AITA/IATA) was funded in 1952 in Brussels, Belgium, as the umbrella organization for amateur theatre across the world. (community and educational, young and old). There are literally millions of people around the world actively involved in amateur theatre. These people share a commitment to creative theatrical expression and are members of more than 100,000 community, youth, children’s and education groups. Amateur theatre worldwide is serviced by national AITA/IATA centers such as Theatre USA, Regional Alliances, and Continental service Centers. Most national centers are composed of individual theatre member organizations. Theatre USA has representatives from its six national organizations on its Board: Association for Theatre in Higher Education, AATE –American Alliance for Theatre and Education, AACT– American Association of Community Theatre, BTN – Black Theatre Network, IOD – Institute of Outdoor Drama, EDTA/Thespians – Educational Theatre Association (sponsors of the International Thespians). Each of these organizations is an associate member of AITA. Board members of Theatre USA and Theatre Canada make up the North American Regional Alliance Board of AITA. WHAT DOES IT DO? Under its banner of universal understanding and education through theatre, AITA/IATA promotes cross-frontier cooperation, artistic enrichment and a sense of universal togetherness. AITA fulfills a facilitating, networking and initiating role for member countries and regional cultural groupings. AITA is actively involved in the organization of several major international festivals, and provides patronage to hundreds of festivals with international participation, many of which are on the WEB page event list. AITA has a WEB page, www.aitaiata.org. Theatre USA’s six national organizations also each have a WEB page. Some of the regular AITA festivals, congresses, workshops and seminars are: • World Festival of Children’s Theatre – a children performing for children festival held every 4 years in Lingen, Germany, and every 4 years between Lingen festivals in another venue; Theatre USA chooses representatives to participate through videos and roving evaluators. • World Youth Festival. • International Drama in Education workshops and congresses held periodically in Austria and between Austria, in other venues. • International theory seminars. • World Congresses held concurrently with a festival every 4 years in Monaco and in between in other countries. (1995 Ankara, Turkey; 1997 Monaco; 1999 El Jadida, Morocco; 2001, Monaco). Participants are chosen through AACT’s biannual national festivals. The USA has hosted one Congress in Oklahoma, 5 Olympiads in Detroit and Michigan and International Festivals in Benton Harbor MI, Racine WI, and Des Moines IA. The USA General Secretariat is in Detroit, Shirley Harbin, Secretary General and Ross Rowland President. NARA is also located in Detroit with S. Harbin, NARA President. The Americas Service Center bringing together news about all of the Americas, is directed by Laura Gardner Salazar. NARA supports an Americas Newsletter and a Journal, IDEACTION, which is distributed free at international conferences and festivals. Most of the Members of Theatre USA and Theatre Canada have Email, so this may be the future communication tool. The World General Secretariat of AITA is located in Estonia: Kaja Pold, Vene 6, EEOOO1 Tallinn, Estonia, Phone 372 6 418 405, Fax 372 6 418 406, E mail aitaiata2online.ee, Home page www.aitaiata.org WHO IS IT? Community (not necessarily social action), University, High School, and Children’s Theatres make up the Amateur theatre serving the North American population. Community theatres are run by community boards of directors, use volunteer actors and stagehands, and are supported by ticket sales and by grants and contributions from local governments, businesses, foundations, and individuals and tuition for classes. University theatres are usually part of the university curriculum, which includes acting, producing and history classes and performances. At a few universities, associated theatre groups are not part of the curriculum but involve some students, graduates, and community members. High school students are offered classes during school and after school performance opportunities. Some teachers use drama to teach other subjects, as do some elementary teachers. Children and youth are part of creative drama classes and productions in school and after school, Saturdays, and holidays which are sponsored by city recreation departments, community theatres, professional theatres, and community children’s theatre organizations, supported by ticket sales, grants, and city funds. Networking among these various theatres is accomplished nationally in the USA through AACT (Community), ATHE (University), AATE (Children and educators), EdTA (High school students and teachers), BTN (Afro-American Theatre), Asian Theatre Association, Outdoor Theatre Institute and Latin American Theatre Journal which are all part of Theatre USA. In Canada provincial organizations provide networking in the area of community and educational theatre and are members of Theatre Canada. Though reaching out to other places is not the mission of these organizations, they do so to improve the quality of their constituents. In addition to Theatre USA and Theatre Canada, there are organizations for many semi-professional theatres whose actors do not earn their living full time with theatre. Millennium Theatre - III - Because Canada and the USA are so large and are almost regions in themselves, North American Regional Alliance is not so important to the individual theatres as are the state and provincial associations. Of the 18,000 community theatres in the USA, only 250 participate in the biennial festival series, which identifies theatres to represent Theatre USA out of the country. Some theatre groups make their own contacts or are recommended by individuals. Five or six children’s theatres apply through videos to represent the USA. In Canada there is a similar problem. Educators are more likely to travel, partly, because funds are available to accredited individuals, and high schools have raised the money through local community support to make individual theatre exchanges. For this reason, Canada and the USA value the AITA/IATA Children and Youth Committee highly. A recent survey suggested that community theatres more than 50 Years old usually have 1. A permanent site (Theatre, clubhouse, or tech center) 2. Effective Board of Directors who pass on the leadership 3. Training program 4. Communication tool such as a newsletter 5. Mission or person around which to rally AACT and its member organizations conduct workshops as do the other members of Theatre USA. In the 1978 five year plan of the Theatre Alliance of Michigan (formerly Michigan Theatre Association) improving the quality of community theatre in Michigan was emphasized. Audiences needed to be more discerning. In 1975 the New England Theatre Conference sponsored an adjudication event under the leadership of James Dean from the Canadian Guild of Adjudicators. Virginia Kirshner organized this workshop. After hearing Ron Willis adjudicate the Spokane AACT Festival, Virginia asked him to lead such a workshop in New Orleans at the 1979 American Theatre Association convention, which served all the theatres of what is now Theatre USA. Then Ron and Virginia planned a workshop in New York, which Shirley Harbin attended. Shirley as president of TAM (MTA) organized a n adjudication workshop at the 1981 FACT Festival in Kalamazoo. TAM has been holding adjudication workshops at national and state festivals since that time. AACT has added this aspect to its festivals outside Michigan. Harv Thompson in Madison, Wisconsin, has conducted a full time community theatre directors’ conference every other year since 1983. In 1975, ’79, ’83, ’87, Theatre USA, with the help of the Detroit Metro Theatre Council, organized the first USA international festivals. Over 800 people from other countries and 80 groups participated in these festivals. In 1990 the Festival participants were shared with Des Moines Community Theatre. Since that time, other venues have enjoyed hosting international festivals. These workshops and festivals grew out of a long USA history of community theatre. WHAT IS ITS HISTORY? Several national organizations leant their help in developing the movement. The Chautauqua circuit built communities of volunteers who could organize the theatres. The Drama League of America encouraged groups to form and distributed education material. The Women’s Clubs of America did much to abet the growth of children’s theatres. The American Educational Theatre Association (AETA)