In my last written post I wrote an “outside in” commentary focusing on certain aspects of the Rogue. This one will focus on an “inside out” perspective.
The topic today is… SHOWS
Since the Rogue began these 3 questions have been a constant… they are asked even today. What is the Rogue? What kind of shows are at the Rogue? What is a Rogue show? The first two questions are pretty accurately answered in THIS POST. The easy answer to the third question is… pretty much anything. But that may seem too glib and perhaps this is something that deserves a fuller perspective.
“… I thought it was a near-perfect show for this kind of festival.”
That quote came from this BeeHive review. I agree with the reviewer in respect to the merits of this quirky and funny show which is well acted, produced and executed. However, the statement… has been heaped onto the same company for two years in a row by the same reviewer also runs the risk of being misconstrued to discourage originality. Simply because the piece that the statement was made about (or series of short plays that make up the piece) are published and established works.
“Are you saying there is something wrong with published and established works?”
Nope. What I am saying is that “this kind of festival” should be about encouraging the original and new. Published and established says safe… or at least safer to me. Yes, it is fun and quirky (I did say that before, didn’t I?) and based on the reviews… including (and especially) those from audience members, I would highly encourage the company in question to produce the show… or type of show in their regular season. To their defense the company in question does produce lesser known (and done) works in their season.
But back to the statement… it is a subject that I touched on in THIS POST. In it I stated my disappointment with the lack of new and original fare (percentage-wise) from local theatre folk in the festival this year. We actually saw more such (original) works in the two previous years that showed promise and did good box-office to boot.
My sincere hope is that the statement does not dampen that adventurous spirit especially among the local theatre population. Perhaps, the “near perfect” part of the statement alludes toward the consideration of producing something new and original.