Thesis: Members of the public who care about local produce might be good prospects to attend local theatre. At first I thought I should file this idea away until the northern hemisphere spring; but it will probably take a little organizing to pull off, so why not talk about it...
Thesis: Specialty web sites promote hobby awareness and participation. There could be one for playgoers. My two big interests besides playgoing are board gaming and craft beer. Each of these is supported by a number of web sites that collect information and provide a venue for social interaction about their...
Thesis: Opportunities to create strong, face-to-face relationships between audience members and playmakers will encourage future attendance and raise awareness of the value of playgoing. Also, if you’re making a go of producing theatre, you probably need all the friends you can make. Idea: Audience members who have already shown up...
Thesis: A group of actors, with very little infrastructure, can create audience engaging, artistically satisfying events. The Actors Salon is a group of actors who gather a few times a year to produce well rehearsed, lightly blocked staged readings in function rooms at restaurants and similar spaces. Audience members are...
Thesis: If you produce a show inside a bar, you might find people interested in seeing it in other bars. Example: The Pink Line Project is an endeavor to raise the visibility of the arts in Greater Washington, DC and to use the arts and that greater visibility to encourage...
Thesis: People are more likely to spend time and attention on performance activities they have participated in. I’m not a sports watcher, but I fenced saber for a year in college. I’ll take a few steps out of my way during the Olympics to catch a little fencing – even...
Theatre is too valuable to be wasted on the few. I want more Americans to see more theatre. Lots more. Enough more, that it calls for a ridiculous goal. Here goes. Triple playgoing in America by 2020. I’m convinced we could do it by following three radical strategic prongs: 1....
In the spring of 2011, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company was a finalist for an award recognizing excellence in non-profit management administered by the Washington Post and the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. It wasn’t big dollars, but we hoped it would help us connect with some corporate contacts. We didn’t expect...
Goals are the bones of endeavor. Like bones, strong, clearly articulated goals provide structure to an endeavor and allow the various people involved in the endeavor to exert their energy at key points of leverage to move the endeavor forward. Without strong bones, a vertebrate animal is a lump of...
