Raconteur Theatre Company

In our short existence as a company, we have come upon and overcome many obstacles already.  Why should today be any different?

We are nearing the opening of our production of Ibsen’s Ghosts and at the same time we are preparing to start the production process for our next show (Mom and Pop by local playwright Sarah Tobin).  This is our first experience with overlapping production calendars, and it presents some new…er…learning opportunities.  Although we are continuing to slowly grow our company by bringing in more new and terrific people (we have really great people on board for Ghosts!), there is still a lot for the core founding company members to handle.  So, at a time when we are all maxed out with preparations for this production, we need to be focusing a lot of energy on the next one right now!  For example, we have auditions for Mom and Pop on the Sunday and Monday of tech week for Ghosts, and the Monday immediately following the tear-down of Ghosts will be the first rehearsal of Mom and Pop.  It’s truly non-stop.  On top of that, we are all, of course, working full time outside of the theatre.

This is my cue to get overwhelmed.

So, I tell myself to breathe.  I tell myself that all this work is worth it.  I tell myself that the passion I have for theatre has its outlet here– in a place I can call my own, and in a place I can be surrounded by other hard-working theatre lovers.

We can do this.

Jill

Auditions are complete and the auditionees will be contacted today with the results.  It was exciting to have the milestone of our first auditions, but for me it was a strange experience. 
Along with the others who came, I auditioned for the show.  It put me in a strange spot of being on the board for the company but desiring equal footing with the others auditioning.  I would have been disappointed not to get a part, but I certainly didn’t want a part just because I’m an integral part of the company.  I wanted a part because I deserved one as an actor. 

And what a difficult place for the directors who are both my friends and fellow board members!  Would I be mad at them if they didn’t cast me? No. But would they feel as though I was? Perhaps.  And I will likely be in their shoes for another show where I am directing and a board member is auditioning. 

We didn’t create this company so that the board members could take whatever parts or direct whatever shows they personally wanted to have.  In fact, we have a board rule to the contrary.  No board member can act in more than 2 of our 4 shows every season- or direct, or write, et cetera.  In theory, this allows for many people to participate in a variety of ways without the theatre company becoming incestuous.  It is in our mission to be inclusive to the Columbus arts community, and this rule helps us stay true to that.

So all that said, I’m excited to be performing in our premiere show and excited to know that it wasn’t just given to me for being Jill (right guys?)… Okay, right.
 
Looking forward to performing for you,

Jill

Beginning something new is a challenge- that’s no secret.  A lot of work has to go into planning and setting those plans into motion.  Add to that the passions of a diverse group of theatre artists, and you are bound to run into some small snags- or some potentially unraveling threads.

Raconteur Theatre Company recently ran into such a snag and in the spirit of radical transparency, I am sharing that snag here.

We (the founders) were clearly not on the same page.  Some of the group want to start strong in a way that means taking financial risk, while some want take the process slow, start small and build gradually spending little to no money.  This difference in philosophy has manifested itself in our choice of performance spaces.  Some of the group wanted to spend money to secure an actual theatre space while others wanted to go as cheaply as possible (which meant most actual theatre spaces were out of the question).  I was on the minority side of “spend money” because to me it is important for us to project the image we want to be known for right away.   And frankly, my name is going on this.  My name means a lot to me.

After two meetings and a week of anguish, we finally came to a compromise that I think all were happy with.  The thing is, was this one compromise enough to truly get us all on the same page?  I’m not  sure, but we will continue plugging away and tackling issues as they come.

Working it out,

Jill