Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Reluctant Producer

from William Franke, Director of Development

Each time someone asks me how I got involved with Theatre East, I preface the story with "I never wanted to be a producer because I knew how much work it was." Whenever I'm in a production or on a set, I can't help but be aware of how many people it takes to realize the finished film or play, how much effort goes into it. And I just wanted to focus on my acting.

Of course, if you've met the folks who founded Theatre East, you'll understand how easily I was drawn in. I first met Jud & Christa back in late 2005; we'd been acquainted a little while when they invited my wife, Jody, & me to attend a show they produced (pre-Theatre East) called HARVEST. We were so blown away by the quality of the show on all levels that when they told me a little while later that they were forming Theatre East with Joseph Mitchell Parks & some others, my enthusiasm bubbled over. I kept foisting upon them all these ideas I
had been storing up over the years of things I would do if I were to be a producer (which I wasn't). Eventually they were compelled to ask me to join the company and, later, the staff.

While there is something to be said for producing as an avenue to creating your own opportunities, the real driving force behind Theatre East that keeps us going is creating opportunities for the community. For example, our Educational Outreach program The New Rites Collective. Thanks in part to the insistence of
Raquel Almazan & Sean Turner, we started that program much earlier in the evolution of our company than I would have thought possible. To be honest, I also wasn't sure if the world needed another theatre company's educational outreach program; but when I saw the impact it was having on the students who took part, for whom it unlocked an understanding of themselves they might not have arrived at otherwise, I realized that it was an essential component of how Theatre East can help give back to the community.

The same is true of the plays we produce. To paraphrase Wallace Shawn*, we believe the third act of a great play takes place in the bars & coffee shops after the audience has left the theater and continues to discuss the play. We hope to take it even further and produce plays that get our community talking & investigating not only the play they've just seen, but the deeper issues the play raises; plays that serve not only as topics for spirited discussion, but more as springboards to conversations about even greater matters that affect our community.

Of course, all of this is even more work than I ever imagined it would be. And yet, it's invigorating to collaborate with such committed people on work that is even more important than I initially envisioned. I hope you'll help us realize these goals by being a part of our community, whether it's at our mainstage shows, at our monthly 3rd Monday Mixers at O'Lunney's in Times Square, our Neighborhood Reading Series, or any of the places & spaces in between. We're all in this together.

Thanks,
Bill

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* click here for an essay by Wallace Shawn that is an interesting read
(but not the source of the paraphrased quote)

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