quinta-feira, 13 de outubro de 2011

To produce or not to produce?

In the 80's there was a big debate on what the author's place in theatre was. No one knew where the boundaries were drawn and whether the author should be praised as a central piece of the final product, the show itself, or just as a provider of the raw material that would later be transformed into...art.

Nowadays, that debate has been settled, in the sense that playwrights (or dramatists, for those that feel «playwright» is too shakespearean...) have gained the respect which is due. The show might be about a lot more than the just the uttered words (especially in contemporary theatre), but these remain a central piece of the play. 

However, writers must deal with the still almighty presence of the director. It was so in the 80's and it still is now. The director represents the ultimate will, that to which all must bow. The director is at the top, unless he has to obey another entity called «money» (theatre administrators, programmers, etc...). But, if given freedom in his work, the director's authority is unchallenged. 

This, I admit, really pisses me off. 

Even though I agree that there must be a central figure, someone who can coordinate, I hate the idea of a group of people following one person's whims and desires. And many directors are that kind of person... Besides, I feel that leadership always gets better results when distributed by more than one individual.

But this brings us to another question that has been coming up more and more: what, then, is the role of the producer?

If you look it up online, a theatre producer can be many things. It's hard to answer that question. He can take care of paperwork, he can take care of logistics, he can be in charge of selling plays and building tours, etc... Sometimes, he's in charge of all these things and then some. You have the creative side and the more practical side, usually done by producers and execs.

Lately, a new position has been surfacing, called the "creative producer", someone who is in charge of practical aspects but is also considered when it comes to making artistic decisions. This, I feel, is a welcome breath of fresh air in the industry as it gets rid of old restraints that don't make sense anymore. 

If aesthetics change with time, if now we are beyond modernism and entering altermodernism, maybe other things must change too, in particular, the way we perceive work methodologies.

Sem comentários:

Enviar um comentário