Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Digital Theatre

I am increasingly encouraged with the growing engagement of audiences for theatre distributed through digital means (in movie theatres or via players on the internet). However, these changes seem to be occurring mostly "across the pond" where, it seems, unions are working with theatres to help grow audiences wherever they might find them.  Britain's National Theatre and now the Edinborough Fringe are available digitally.  Here in the United States we assume that it is through the ease of public funding that our peers are able to attain what we can barely consider due to the incredibly high labor costs due to our unions. (The cost of a one day filming of a stage play with 6 actors is approximately $28,000 while paying those same actors for a week is only $3800).  Until we are able to bridge THAT financial gap, the jump to the screen will be few and far between, supported through corporations who want their names across the screen not due to the actual demand for an interesting piece of art by audiences.

  Technology and theatre are friends in England where there is a digital theatre app letting you know what's playing at your nearby stage. 

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