The How; The Why

One might say that there are two questions that are more important than any others when the decision is made to put on a show. Those questions are 'How?' and 'Why?'

Surely, other basic questions must be asked. We must ask ourselves 'When?', 'Where?', and certainly it's important to know what show is to be done. Don't walk away from this essay believing that I attempted to downplay the importance of any of these questions. I agree that they must all be asked, and answered, in a timely fashion before any sort of theatrical project is mounted.

But I do believe that the how and the why receive the lion's share of the attention of any group of people who decide to put on a show. Many times the where is obvious. "In our theater!" one might answer, incredulous, when asked. This would be true of any group fortunate enough to possess a space. The when is often easily answered as well, "In accordance with our established seasonal schedules," is an easy enough answer. The what presents a somewhat greater challenge, but would be a subject for a different discussion.

The how, though, and the why. These two are probably the greatest hurdles, but within their own fashions. Any group of people will focus extensively on the how. That's a given. What will the set look like? Who will be our crew? So on and so forth.

The why, similarly, often receives enough scrutiny. I say often, because I refer to professional, semi-professional, and collegiate theater in this case. In all of these instances, we see shows produced by complete creative teams. There's an overriding artistic director, whose job it is to ensure artistic quality and that the show doesn't get out of hand. There's a director responsible for the overall vision of the show, a lighting designer who, with the set designer and costume designer, creates the very world of the play. There is very often a sound designer, who I believe contributes more to the audience's immersion in a play than any other member of the creative team. They meet regularly to discuss the how and the why of the show. They will come to an agreement about what the show is saying, and what they, as a team, wish to say about the show.

In community theater, this is (within my own experience) not so often the case. Often the creative team consists only of a director, in smaller programs. Other times there are designers, but they are inexperienced or not blessed with a great voice in the creative process. The creative process is stunted, in many cases. Production meetings are not called, the creative team spends little time discussing the why, focusing their time on the how.

The result is that the set is built, the lights are focussed, the cues are written. The show goes on, but not one of the creators, none of the actors, and almost certainly not the audience knows what the creative team wanted to say about the show. The focus becomes the text of the show, rather than the intent, or the interpreted meaning, or even something unrelated to the text entirely.

I don't like that.