The name of our company was something we spent a long time deciding and discussing. We eventually agreed upon the name ‘Refract Theatre Company’. We feel this name directly correlates with what we, as a Theatre Company, intend to achieve through our work: we want to provide alternative perspectives for our audience to consider. Additionally, during the early discussions, we decided to focus upon the idea of true image, perceptions and memory through the medium of photographs. We intend to use both personal and famous images as a stimulus for our piece ‘When you see it’.
In my role as Producer I am in charge of the scheduling and monitoring of the different departments making sure they are all on target and the Company is working cooperatively as a team. As Robert Cohen describes, in my role I am the “final authority” (Cohen, 2010, 54) so communication with the Company is essential in order to monitor all decisions. Each Sunday I post a schedule for the upcoming week detailing the activities and targets to be achieved.
This is the first time in a creative process at University that I have not worked in a collaborative production in which I have performed. I am very much enjoying watching the practical rehearsals and seeing the powerful and dynamic work created by our cast. Additionally, in a week’s time I will also be watching the first scene created by our Directors and Company.
This week we also launched our Twitter and Facebook to engage and update our audience on the progress of our piece. Social media is a valuable tool for many companies and it “can play in building a long-term, meaningful relationship with the audience” (Peter, 2010, 19). This is an important method of marketing to reach our target audience and the whole company is involved in boosting our online presence. “That level of control and that ability to coordinate your message across several media platforms is a profound technological breakthrough for theatre companies” (Peter, 2010, 19).
Works Cited
Cohen, R. (2010) Working together in Theatre: Collaboration and Leadership. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
Peter, R. (2010) Social Media Marketing Takes Center Stage. Southern Theatre. 51 (4) 8-19