We the Audience

*This is the third essay in a series of four “We the Audience” posts designed to introduce my readers to the citizen artists working in some of South Africa’s most challenged areas. Today’s essay focuses on Charlie Jansen and the Butterfly Art Project. Charlie is one of the participating artists in ArtUp’s “Sites of Passage: South Africa” project. My time in South Africa was filled with the … [Read more...]

*This is the second essay in a series of four “We the Audience” posts designed to introduce my readers to the citizen artists working in some of South Africa’s most challenged areas. Today’s essay focuses on Mbovu Malinga, an arts-and-development consultant and free-lance artist, and his work with a variety of Cape Town NGO’s. Mbovu is one of the participating artists in ArtUp’s “Sites of Passage: … [Read more...]

I’ve been away from this blog for several months now, engaged in a variety of the usual pursuits (teaching, lecturing, directing, producing, playwriting) but also traveling to South Africa on a research expedition. I’m back to write about South Africa—an eye-and-heart-opening adventure that took me from Cape Town to Johannesburg to interview an array of inspiring artists who use their skills to … [Read more...]

I returned recently from a keynote-giving junket that took me to Toulouse, France and then to Springfield, Missouri. Some contrast, I know. (Although it should be noted that the food and the hospitality were excellent in both places.) It was an exciting trip filled with opportunities to share my theory of Arts Talk and to learn from a variety of smart and engaged people. On October 15 I … [Read more...]

Our first lucky break came when my old friend, F. Cowles Strickland, founding-director of the Berkshire Playhouse at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, began to drop in on our practice sessions. He asked many intelligent questions which I answered with words that the boys illustrated in movement, a process that gave Strick a double-edged idea. He took me aside one day, and suggested that the boys and I … [Read more...]

In two recent references (“In defense of the quieting of the audience” and “Etudes on Innovation: What the Performing Arts Can Learn From Sports Marketing”) to my publications on audiences, I’ve been described as a historian interested in critiquing the passive nature of contemporary audiences. I truly appreciate the interest in my work. Both Dianne Ragsdale and Mark Macnamara make some … [Read more...]

When a performance is over, what remains? . . . The event scorches on to the memory an outline, a taste, a trace, a smell – a picture. It is the play’s central image that remains, its silhouette, and if the elements are highly blended this silhouette will be its meaning, this shape will be the essence of what it has to say. Peter Brook, The Empty Space My sabbatical year is coming to an … [Read more...]

In my last post I referenced my recent five-week cross-country road trip, during which I visited a variety of arts venues (from galleries to concert halls to tiny black box theaters). One of the most fascinating stops was Marfa, Texas, home to the Chinati Foundation and the sculptor Donald Judd’s vision to permanently link installations to the landscape (both natural and man-made). All this on a … [Read more...]

Learning. Why do arts professionals object to using the L word when it comes to describing the audience experience? That’s one of the questions I take away from a recent five-week cross-country road trip, during which I visited (experienced) various arts organizations and met with a range of arts workers. I’ll explore other questions (thoughts, musings, puzzlements, sparks) from my journey … [Read more...]

Thanks to a sabbatical from my teaching position at Colby College, I am smack in the middle of a two and a half month stretch of research travel. Which is one way of explaining my blogger silence since late December (another is that I’m having too much fun to stop and write). I hope to fill in the gaps here and there as I continue my investigation into the audience experience while traveling … [Read more...]