Theatre Productions Being Shown In Cinema

[sammisam123]

Hi Everyone,

 

 

What are your opinions on productions being filmed for the cinema or the internet ?

 

Do you think it's good for our industry?

 

What do you think will be the long term effects?

 

 

 

Any opinions welcome

 

Thanks

[bigclive]

Not just filmed, but in some instances broadcast live so that the cinema-goers can experience the live performance remotely.

 

I don't think that pre-recorded theatre material is likely to do any harm to theatres, since most people would rather see something like Wicked live. If anything it may encourage people to see live shows.

[ImagineerTom]

It's like eating ice-cream with a fork.

[kerry davies]

It's like eating ice-cream with a fork.

Or watching Led Zep via a cellphone camera.

[James Remo]

I'd disagree. I wanted to watch Frankenstein at the national in 2011 but due to work commitments I was out of the country, but I managed to catch it at my local cinema later that year. Granted my experience was different to someone who saw it live, but having access to the work was important to me, due to the soundtrack being done by people I am glad to have as friends and colleagues. Filming and broadcast opens theatre to a wider audience, those unable to travel, and those who can't afford tickets (as the cinema showings have been cheaper in my experience). My aging folks live in a remote part of Canada but still have access to theatre and opera works beamed "live" from London. How can this be a bad thing?

[ImagineerTom]

Just because something isn't "good" doesn't mean it's "bad"

 

However theatre (and concerts/events) are fundamentally about the live experience as a whole - from the moment you choose the tickets to the journey to the theatre to the experience of being part of an audience to the fact that EVERY single person in the room is having a different view and a different experience of the events that are happening on the stage immediately in front of them. As soon as you have a camera/director/editor controlling what you view of the performance and as soon as you are dislocated from the actual performance space itself the experience becomes a very different one. It's still a valid experience and I fully appreciate it as a great way to get people who are unsure in to view theatre (though if you look at the numbers it's not actually attracting anything like the "new" demographic people think it is) but it is fundamentally a compromised, lesser experience than going to see an actual show.

 

It's just like eating ice-cream with a fork, you can do it, you still get the exciting taste of ice-cream.... but it's not as good as eating it with a spoon or your fingers.