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Changes in the theatre forum (a discussion)

  • 31-07-2014 11:33am
    #1
    Will Unimportant Fig
    Posts: 0 ✭ Will Unimportant Fig


    Hello all,

    Pappa D here, your new friendly forum moderator. Some of you may not have heard of me as I post here quite infrequently. So allow me to introduce myself.

    I've been involved in Youth Theatre since 15.
    I was one of the 6 that started No Drama (The Boards Drama group).
    I'm a writer and director and what ever else you need.
    I'm a trained drama facilitator.
    I currently run Firedoor Theatre and The People's Theatre, Unit 3 James Joyce St.
    I'm about to start in The Lir doing the professional diploma in stage management and technical theatre.
    I've been a mod since 2004 (I think - long time anyway!)

    I thought this could be a good time to have a chat about what this forum is and should be. To me, it could be a hub for the theatre/perfroming arts scene in Ireland, bar Crooked House, I'm unaware of anything else.

    What would you like to see here?
    • I'd like to see more involvement from different disciplines (dance, burlesque, mime, performance art etc.)
    • I'd like to see good reviews on productions and discussions stem from that.
    • I'd like to see plays being advertised better. I personally think we could use the forum element better to promote our work and create discussions based on it. My feeling is the current one megathread for productions isn't as useful as it could be. I would suggest one thread per play/performance, which then could lead on to a discussion about the piece, or the cast or crew could use it as a blogspace to keep a potential audience informed.
    • A theatre games megathread. I love theatre games, and it would be great if we could have a resource where we can use each others games
    • I'd like to see workshops advertised better, but I think that will be a discussion with the Admin regarding advertising fees and what not.

    My thoughts so far, I have more (I think)


Comments

  • #2
    OldGoat
    Registered Users Posts: 12,631 ✭✭✭✭OldGoat


    Delighted to see a new home exists for burlesque and cabaret after the demise of the forum itself. In that forum discussion of burlesque was at a minimum and the only threads of interest seemed to be event listings. Hope that there will still be room for a list thread here.

    I'm older than Minecraft goats.



  • #3
    The_Morrigan
    Moderators Posts: 9,368 ✭✭✭The_Morrigan


    Another new mod here to T&PA!


    I've been involved in the performing arts since I was a child (John Player Tops, Community shows, school choral groups, musical societies, pantos, drama, comedy festivals etc etc). I have levitated towards the technical side of things though, I was always on the stage crews and supporting the cast from the wings by bumping up the volume of sound. I've a keen eye for details and anything visually & orally out of place I can usually spot, whether that be lighting, sound, set, props, costumes or makeup. Recently a lot of my time has been involved in events (festivals, sporting events, outdoor events); still in the vein of the technical side of the arts.

    For me I think the forum is a bit disjointed - the performing arts is such a massive genre of art forms, it's not just drama and I think the use of 'Theatre & Performing Arts' is wrong. (Please all burst into 'I pray I make PA/Hardwork' from Fame at this point). This forum should be like a performing arts school, with singers, dancers, musicians, techs, comics, magicians, actors and any other performers that wish to throw their hat in the ring for help & discussion.

    I would love to see resource sharing here whether that be people, props, sets, knowledge.
    The amateur arts across the country are all in the same boat - they all need funding and helping hands, there is no reason why people can't have brainstorming sessions on here for fun fundraising ideas, network with other societies for that elusive prop you can't seem to find anywhere; or pass on your unwanted set pieces.

    Pappa D I agree with most of your points, but I do have to criticise you on one :P
    I'd like to see good reviews on productions and discussions stem from that.
    Agreed, in fact the first one went up yesterday!
    I'd like to see plays being advertised better. I personally think we could use the forum element better to promote our work and create discussions based on it. My feeling is the current one megathread for productions isn't as useful as it could be. I would suggest one thread per play/performance, which then could lead on to a discussion about the piece, or the cast or crew could use it as a blogspace to keep a potential audience informed.
    This one is the critic (sorry old boy :pac:)....I'd like to see all events, whether they be musicals, dramas, comedies, burlesque shows, choral events, orchestral, dance recitals, etc etc. This stems from my perception that the arts and this forum shouldn't just be about 'plays'. This obviously would need discussion amongst mods of other performing art forums, but there is a serious cross over of talent where you have people who are involved in everything that passes through their local theatre, so to pigeon hole the forum may discourage that cross over.
    This is also important from a technical perspective; a lighting designer doesn't discriminate between a drama, a musical or an opera, same goes for the rest of the technical crews.
    I realise that this viewpoint stems from personal experiences and Pappa D yours lies in drama but it's good that we hit both sides of the stage between us. :D


  • #4
    Will Unimportant Fig
    Posts: 0 ✭ Will Unimportant Fig


    The_Morrigan wrote: »
    This one is the critic (sorry old boy :pac:)....I'd like to see all events, whether they be musicals, dramas, comedies, burlesque shows, choral events, orchestral, dance recitals, etc etc. This stems from my perception that the arts and this forum shouldn't just be about 'plays'. This obviously would need discussion amongst mods of other performing art forums, but there is a serious cross over of talent where you have people who are involved in everything that passes through their local theatre, so to pigeon hole the forum may discourage that cross over.
    This is also important from a technical perspective; a lighting designer doesn't discriminate between a drama, a musical or an opera, same goes for the rest of the technical crews.
    I realise that this viewpoint stems from personal experiences and Pappa D yours lies in drama but it's good that we hit both sides of the stage between us. :D

    I agree completely. My use of the word plays was wrong - Sorry about that! I meant all performing art pieces!

    (it will happen occasionally as I retrain my brain from theatre to all of performing arts!)


  • #5
    The_Morrigan
    Moderators Posts: 9,368 ✭✭✭The_Morrigan


    Will Unimportant Fig wrote: »
    I agree completely. My use of the word plays was wrong - Sorry about that! I meant all performing art pieces!

    (it will happen occasionally as I retrain my brain from theatre to all of performing arts!)

    I love how actors always take direction well lol


  • #6
    Star Lord
    Registered Users Posts: 30,123 ✭✭✭✭Star Lord


    Pretty much everything I had in mind coming into the thread has been covered either by my good friend Will Unimportant Fig (I still miss your old name...) or The_Morrigan!

    Looking forward to seeing this forum develop a little more!

    Only thing I'd add is perhaps a "recommend a course for X" type thread, but it'd take some careful monitoring to stop 'shilling' or advertising from taking place.


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  • #7
    The_Morrigan
    Moderators Posts: 9,368 ✭✭✭The_Morrigan


    DamoElDiablo wrote: »
    Only thing I'd add is perhaps a "recommend a course for X" type thread, but it'd take some careful monitoring to stop 'shilling' or advertising from taking place.

    I'm pretty sure something could be worked out with the office for something like this - the thing with workshops is that they are not always for the benefit of the professional. You may call in a pro to do a workshop on some element of the arts, but the benefit is for the students and what they take from it and bring back to their home theatres, groups and societies.


  • #8
    faceman
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,584 CMod ✭✭✭✭faceman


    Hello all and welcome aboard! The problem with stickies and reading forums on your mobile is that, er, I tend to miss new stickies when they appear! :o

    All good suggestions for the most part so far. I will give my 2c based on my experience of modding the forum.

    * Despite efforts to encourage, there is very little discussion on the forum. Many posters are 'drop ins' that either post a query or show and dont return.
    * Biggest volume of posts are ads for shows and workshops. Most of these users don't contribute to the forum in other ways.
    * Questions and queries about dance classes are very popular.

    Regarding workshop advertising, I have never had an issue with it assuming the advertiser offers an additional incentive for boardsies. (this was something I cleared with admins back in the day)

    No issue with show advertising but I think a single thread for each show will just end up with a flood of single post threads for shows with no discussion.

    In terms of drama, the most common types of posts are people querying drama groups in Dublin or Cork.

    The No Drama Theatre group forum is pretty much dead. It peaked years ago but none of the current members or committee post there anymore and the traffic is minimal. The sub forum, Dramatic Off License, hasnt seen a post in nearly 2 years. Consideration should be given to what to do with these forums. IMO, I would rather see a new more active group take over the reigns there (Tom did say back in the early days a day would come when there would be a new No Drama!) Pappa D's Firedoor Theatre seems like an obvious choice, especially given how active Pappa D is on the site.


  • #9
    The_Morrigan
    Moderators Posts: 9,368 ✭✭✭The_Morrigan


    faceman wrote: »

    The No Drama Theatre group forum is pretty much dead. It peaked years ago but none of the current members or committee post there anymore and the traffic is minimal. The sub forum, Dramatic Off License, hasnt seen a post in nearly 2 years. Consideration should be given to what to do with these forums. IMO, I would rather see a new more active group take over the reigns there (Tom did say back in the early days a day would come when there would be a new No Drama!) Pappa D's Firedoor Theatre seems like an obvious choice, especially given how active Pappa D is on the site.

    In relation to this...would a conversion of the subforum to just drama work? That way any and all theatre groups could be involved rather than just No Drama? I do prefer the more inclusive elements rather than the exclusive ones!
    Pappa D & myself have discussed switching this forum to PA with other subforums for drama, musicals (Posy is onboard already for this, if approved by the powers that be) and any other genre that requests a forum of their own via feedback.


  • #10
    faceman
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,584 CMod ✭✭✭✭faceman


    The_Morrigan wrote: »
    In relation to this...would a conversion of the subforum to just drama work? That way any and all theatre groups could be involved rather than just No Drama? I do prefer the more inclusive elements rather than the exclusive ones!

    That might work but again thought is still need around what the parent forum is for.
    wrote:
    Pappa D & myself have discussed switching this forum to PA with other subforums for drama, musicals (Posy is onboard already for this, if approved by the powers that be) and any other genre that requests a forum of their own via feedback.

    Don't forget to keep me included in these conversations if they're offline. I haven't seen anything around this discussion that hasn't been posted publicly and I've been modding this forum for years. ;) Not sure why I wasn't included tbh


  • #11
    Will Unimportant Fig
    Posts: 0 ✭ Will Unimportant Fig


    One thing I thought was could we have a redirect url of boards.ie/performing arts ?

    Little easier to share with people. Companies who are looking for feedback on their productions could include it on their programmes/ posters so people know where to chat about the piece.

    Also, I get what ye are saying about No Drama not using the forum and it should possibly go. BUT.. I personally believe that No Drama has been one of the great successes of boards.ie. It has shown people that don't know each other can meet online and get up to theatre offline.
    I also think (and this is me being honest) it would really suffer if we were to remove the forum as it would affect their google rankings.

    Their committee has just recently been restructured. I think we need to invite them in, find out if they want to still be "the boards drama group". If they don't, fine, shut the forum. If they do explain that there needs to be more activity.

    But definitely keep them in the loop!


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  • #12
    TygerKrash
    Registered Users Posts: 519 ✭✭✭TygerKrash


    Hey All

    Firstly, welcome to the new mods, always good to see new blood.

    I'd agree with facemans notes on the forum , from my time here I'ts always felt like a 'passing through spot', and not much in they way of a cohesive community has formed like some other more focused forums. However it's always had a steady stream of traffic and seems to be useful to folks.

    Suggestions for the forum, one thing I've had noodling around in my head for a while is a 'spotlight on' thread where a particular event gets highlighted in a thread (in return for perhaps comp tickets or discounts) and an outing takes place. but may require more effort from the mods to manage.

    I thought a collection of threads around resources for groups (admittedly theatre focused at the time) would be useful and I attempted to start one on venues


    Probably more interestingly than the above though, I'm on the current committee for no drama, so I can speak a little for the group. Oddly enough we were lamenting the lack of life on the forum only recently. one of the reasons is the size of the group now and most folks seem to do their bantering on less anonymous forums like FB. We're looking at what can be done there and revitalising the existing forum is one of the options being discussed. That said what faceman says is true , the only activity these days is the occasional query about the group from someone interested in getting involved. this post is probably the most I've interacted with Boards in years!

    The forum and boards have been very good to NoDrama along the way, certainly in the first few years it's been invaluable to growing our membership and the anecdote for a new joiner was always.. I saw this thread on boards!

    apologies for the nostalgia/ stream of conciousness... to the point . While I totally understand if there's a desire to repurpose/remove the ND forum I'd request a stay of execution for now until ND have a change to figure out where what we'd like to do. ! at the very least we'd like to arrange preservation of that particular little bit of history!


  • #13
    The_Morrigan
    Moderators Posts: 9,368 ✭✭✭The_Morrigan


    faceman wrote: »
    That might work but again thought is still need around what the parent forum is for.

    The parent forum should be Performing Arts -PA is a lot more than just drama and to create a sense of community you should be inclusive, not exclusive.


  • #14
    Rachiee
    Registered Users Posts: 880 ✭✭✭Rachiee


    I love the idea of increased co-operation between drama groups.sets props resource drama games.
    Couple of things that would interest me..
    1. A list of deadlines/opportunities for submissions to various festivals/competitions etc.
    2. Suggestions for places/ ways to advertise shows.

    I've also noticed that we have people looking to start getting into PA/join a group and I have wondered myself what other active groups are represented on
    this forum (even if just by one member)

    So maybe a sticky for those in groups to say who you're group is,what you do, when you meet,and if you take new members?
    Then that thread can be used to update if a group is looking for new members
    It can be a resource for those looking to join groups, and for groups to contact one another re help/collaboration.


  • #15
    The_Morrigan
    Moderators Posts: 9,368 ✭✭✭The_Morrigan


    Rachiee wrote: »
    I love the idea of increased co-operation between drama groups.sets props resource drama games.
    Couple of things that would interest me..
    1. A list of deadlines/opportunities for submissions to various festivals/competitions etc.
    2. Suggestions for places/ ways to advertise shows.

    I've also noticed that we have people looking to start getting into PA/join a group and I have wondered myself what other active groups are represented on
    this forum (even if just by one member)

    So maybe a sticky for those in groups to say who you're group is,what you do, when you meet,and if you take new members?
    Then that thread can be used to update if a group is looking for new members
    It can be a resource for those looking to join groups, and for groups to contact one another re help/collaboration.


    Thanks for that Rachiee.
    I'd be happy to see a contact list for groups and facilitating announcements of information nights/auditions/events. I know the musical society I'm involved with hold information nights for new shows every year and then random meetings for fundraiser events. They do advertise locally and it is word of mouth generally, but if you miss the info night or auditions you're often unable to get stuck in until the following year.


    Festivals and competitions would not be my forte - however, I'm sure if people had that information we could facilitate sharing it to the masses. As long as threads adhere to the charter there should be no reason why a discussion can't even start along the lines of 'Anyone getting involved in any competitions/festivals this year?'
    The more people that get involved and get stuck in the better here as far as I'm concerned.


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