Tagged: storytelling

Business Of Theatre

20130818-220325.jpg

I attended an enjoyable theatre forum today, at the Auckland Theatre Company – facilitated by Lynne Cardy and Michael Adams.

We discussed the topic of developing new audiences, through the platform of digital marketing.

Online and Offline presence are equally important for any brand – namely a theatre company, who wants to be sustainable. We openly discussed the subject of raising awareness of personal and company branding through images, video and human engagement.

After all – theatre is about storytelling for people, who are willing to watch and listen. Yes?

Who is our audience? What is their persona? Do they have a digital footprint? How can we bring value to their life – by live performance ?

So many (great) questions.

I write and direct plays because it excites me – to create new and controversial work for the stage.
Each rehearsal brings new discoveries, vulnerabilities and truth.

I think theatre scares some people. I have spoken to acquaintances, strangers and random individuals, who have never experienced theatre, ever.

Amazing.

As well as having website presence, and Hootsuite to manage all your social media platforms – it is still important to have human interaction. Always.

Long live theatre.

Blogging: Is Content Important?

After attending the ‘NZ Bloggers Network’ event tonight – the question still remains – about what makes a blog appealing?
Is it the content, or the title? Probably both matter. Don’t you think? In the room, there was an equal mix of both men and women from NZ, UK, Canada, France, Malaysia, Australia and the Philippines. So (ultimately) there was a lot of dogma, in the air – about what works, and what doesn’t in the blogosphere.

Everyone (present) blogged about differing subjects – from social media to personal experiences, travel, project management, technology, marketing, fashion, theatre, film, food and craft.

So what makes or breaks content?

Blogs that are too wordy, or display poor grammar, with weak titles, and no images definitely works against you. Right? And (obviously) the opposite applies for a good blog post. However how much text, is too much? Also, how do you measure success blogging? Is it purely the stats? Or is it all about (good) storytelling?

What do you think?

NZ Bloggers Network

Playwriting

“You are one of those girls, that arrives from nowhere and departs the same way. You seem present but removed?” Will, ‘pURe’

Love that line. I am drafting my next work, which is again different, to my last 5 plays. I enjoy the intimacy of the stage with my characters, however I like to mix it up with film. Thinking about their interests, and back stories, and their secrets. We all have them. Looking forward to a play reading, in a month or two, nothing like seeing the work take shape.

Language is like oxygen – but so is silence. Sitting in an empty room, brings a wild imagination, and thoughts that wonder on for miles.

I am not one of those people, who write everyday. I write when I want to. This brings depth and colour to my work, when writing from the heart.

What is your experience with writing plays?

Believe

Writing my latest script, has awakened a lot of feelings from within. I suppose this will always be the case, when you are writing a story (for the stage) about unrequited love. After much conversation with some friends, they divulged their favourite films on this subject are, ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’, ‘ The Notebook’, ‘P.S. I Love You’, ’10 Things I Hate About You’, ‘Amelie’, ‘House of Sand and Fog’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Revolutionary Road’ were the main contenders. How do you determine what love is? As we age, sometimes we develop cynical thoughts about surrendering our heart. When you are experiencing (seismic) feelings, where is the off switch? Obviously, you are unable to control this sensation. I have cried and laughed developing these characters. Boom.