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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT NORTHRIDGE THE POWER OF THEATRE COMMUNITIES IN COMMUNITY THEATRE A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Theatre By Rosemary Moffat December, 2011 The graduate project of Rosemary Moffat is approved: ______________________________________ __________________ Heinrich Falk, Ph.D. Date ______________________________________ __________________ Professor Peter Grego Date ______________________________________ __________________ Ah Jeong Kim, Ph.D., Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Dedication This work is dedicated to the thousands of hardworking, passionate community theatre communities – and to my wonderful husband Mike, for his pushing, his patience and his unwavering love. iii Table of Contents Signature Page ii Dedication iii Abstract vi Section 1: Introduction 1 Section 2: Interviews with Community Theatre Leaders 6 Interview Responses 6 Section 3: Pre-Production 13 The Facility and Theatre Company 13 ETC Challenges/Solutions 1 14 The Play 17 Section 4: Production Staff Selection and The Audition Process 22 Introduction: Why “Do” Community Theatre? 22 Production Staff Selection Process 23 Audition Process and Cast Selection 24 Section 5: The Rehearsal Process 30 Introduction 30 Cast Samplings 29 Process Notes 31 ETC Challenges/Solutions 2 33 Section 6: The Performance Process 35 Introduction 35 ETC Challenges/Solutions 3 35 The Process 36 iv Section 7: Aftermath 38 Cast/Staff Closure Process 39 BeWitchin’ the West Company Chronicles 39 Conclusions 40 Works Cited 45 Appendices Appendix A: Partial Theatrical Resume 46 Appendix B: BeWitchin’ the West script 47 Appendix C: Audition Set Up and Process 112 Appendix D 1-4: BeWitchin’ the West Publicity Materials 113 Appendix E: BeWitchin’ the West photographs 123 Appendix F: Chronicle Responses 131 Appendix G : Production Schedule 136 Appendix H: BeWitchin’ the West Performance DVD Information 139 v ABSTRACT BEWITCHIN’THE WEST AND THE POWER OF THEATRE COMMUNITIES IN COMMUNITY THEATRE AS A CULMINATING EXPERIENCE By Rosemary Moffat Master of Arts in Theatre Arts The beginning of the 21ST century brought with it many trials, many of which have torn holes in our concepts of community, and created fissures between people. In our search for ways to re-create strong community, this project examined the ways that community theatre brings disconnected individuals and groups together through one common interest, giving many opportunities to reconnect, to heal and to grow. The project tracked the ways in which a theatrical community is created, both theoretical and practical levels within and around the production of a farcical comedy, Bewitchin’ the West, adapted and written by myself, and co- playwright Aletheia Regier. This play was written with the intention of creating community in community theatre between generations, cultures and backgrounds and taps into the style of American melodrama, a genre of theatre that has always belonged to the masses. The project demonstrates how the unity built in community theatre from a foundation of diverse participants who share a common vision can be a powerful, life-changing base from which to begin to build community outside the walls of the theatre. vi THE POWER OF THEATRE COMMUNITIES IN COMMUNITY THEATRE “I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap.” ~Ani DiFranco, American singer, song writer (b. 1970) INTRODUCTION The beginning of the 21ST century brought with it many trials -- job loss, rampant drug and alcohol abuse, fractured families, environmental catastrophes, sexual identity crises and the shut-down of communication between generations. All of this has torn holes in the fabric of our society, and created fissures between people. I contend that it is highly important to search for ways to re-create the concept of community today, and that theatre, especially community theatre has much to offer in that regard. In challenging times such as this, I propose that community theatre can be a strong base that brings disconnected individuals and groups together through one common interest and provides a place within which all types of folks have the opportunity to reconnect, to heal and to grow. I have been actively involved in Community Theater in Ventura and Orange Counties for eighteen years in a total of over forty productions (See Appendix A). I have built relationships with actors, directors, designers and technical people in many arenas. For the purposes of this graduate project, I have examined how a theatrical community is created at both theoretical and practical levels. I have immersed myself in the creation and growth of the theatrical community/ies that develop within and around a production of a comedic play production, and tracked the progress of this community as it unfolded. In S. N. Behrman‟s 1939 play, No Time for Comedy, the character of Linda Esterbrook wisely notes that during a period of crisis, "The more inhuman the rest of the world the more human we. One should keep in one‟s own mind a little clearing in the jungle of life. One must laugh” (Behrman 106). With that fact in mind, the process of the theatrical journey of a new comedic play called BeWitchin’ the West was implemented, observed, tracked, described and 1 documented in multiple formats which include tracking production processes, auditions, rehearsals, performances and audience reaction. Tools included informal and formal observation and input from cast, production staff and audience members through the use of video, surveys, chronicles and individual interviews. These tracking processes provided insight into how group dynamics build and change in the creative unit, how conflicts arise, how they are solved, and more. In contemporary America, the definition of community is difficult to pin down. Traditional history would argue that community requires almost complete commonality, value systems, like-mindedness, mores and lifestyles. Iris Young writes in her article, “The Ideal of Community and the Politics of Difference,” that this type of community is, “an understandable dream, expressing a desire for selves that are transparent to one another, relationships of mutual identification, social closeness and comfort “(Young 301). Out of this belief comes a pining in today‟s world for the lost sense of community from the „old days,‟ which some say creates a type of community in itself. Then there are those who theorize that community has never indeed existed. Jean-Luc Nancy, in his book, The Inoperative Community, insists that, “community has not taken place, or rather, if it is true that humanity has known (or still knows, outside of the industrial world) social ties quite different from those familiar to us, community has never taken place along the lines of our projections” (Nancy 11). Richard L. Barr, in his book, Rooms With a View, The Stages of Community in the Modern Theater, pointed to text in the play Action, by Sam Shepard, where the character, Lupe, “strategically tries to liberate community from discourse, because the term is pivotal in so many language games that consensus may be available only in the silence of Tractatus (“Of what one cannot speak, one must remain silent”) (Barr 1).” But “community” exists. It may not require initial homogeneity and it may not be seen or 2 consciously felt. Many find it in community theatre, where a healthy community comes from diversity within a shared interest. In his book Essays on Performance Theory, Richard Schechner asserts that “drama is that art whose subject, structure and action is social process” (Schechner 121). The American Association of Community Theatres states, “Community theatre enriches the lives of those who take an active part in it, as well as those in the community who benefit from live theatre productions. On either side of the footlights, those involved represent a diversity of age, culture, life experience, and a strong appreciation of the importance of the arts (AACT).” Barr emphasizes that, “modern dramatists develop various ways of balancing “the many” and “the one” – of accommodating diversity and continuity” (Barr 23). This is the theory of community with which I will be working. Theatre has always required that a community of sorts be developed, and has provided an avenue through which to reflect the human condition. Communities of performers push each other and in turn, their audiences, to see beyond fear, prejudice and apathy. As they query the past, lay out the injustices and challenges of the present, and project the consequences and solutions for the future, these communities of performers, as Barr asserts about theorist Victor Turner, “offer participants at least the fleeting experience of the condition he calls „communitas‟ (Barr 5)” to the participants and their audiences. In this state, Turner believes that differences between people drop away as they share a common experience. In healthy theatre communities, a common vision is developed on the basis of a shared humanity and a sense of belonging. This type of theatre community is extraordinary, because, although they do it for fun and for free, although the group is typically highly varied, a deep sense of community results; and although it is short-lived – or perhaps because it is short-lived, these communities can serve as a fleeting example of what community can be in its purest sense. Through my theoretical and practical findings in this project, stitched together with text, video, 3 pictures and performance, it is my intention to demonstrate how this type of theatre can result in the acquisition of important social functions, lifestyles, and skill sets that can serve as building blocks healthy communities, skills that can be shared in and out of the theatre setting. In some areas, this was not the case. However, my quest revealed the components that do hold the dissimilar group together when the only common thread is the show, and gave me tools as to how to proceed during times of conflict and frustration.

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