Theater's new world of new media

Minneapolis boasts over seventy theater companies encompassing all sizes and venues. Unfortunately, not everyone knows this. How can we change the face of theater and get a new generation excited about the arts? Many places are turning to social media to spread the word and get younger crowds in the doors. Over the past season, companies across the Twin Cities have tried different avenues. The Guthrie Theater sold “tweet seats” for The Servant of Two Masters. These seats were in the balcony and encouraged patrons to share their experience during the show. Although it was a controversial idea, two friends and I saw the show and enjoyed the experience. We were placed high enough up that people below could not see the light from our phones. Recently, The Moving Company produced a newly written piece, Out of the Pan Into the Fire. They raised money via Kickstarter and exceeded their budget. It turned out to be a very creative story and the night I went was almost completely sold out. 7th House Theater Collective is a newly formed group to hit the scene. It is especially hard for a new company to get noticed in such a crowded field, so 7th House is keeping the production small and turning to new media. They are using Kickstarter along with other forms of social media, pushing full throttle in order to promote their debut show Hair, which opens June 24th at Studio 514. Not only are they taking social media to a new level as a means to spread the word, they are doing it well. Two of the cast members, Cat Brindisi and David Darrow met with me to chat over lunch at Bryant Lake Bowl about their game plan to make Hair an enjoyable experience for performers and audience members alike. This new production will make Hair relevant to our times and not just a hippie piece. The space in which it will be performed only holds 99 people so it is sure to be an experience. Since this is a scaled back show, the focus will be on performers, not large sets or props – the cast will be intermingling with the audience throughout the show. The band will be small but something tells me it will be perfect for the angle they are looking to achieve. On the social media front, 7th House Theater Collective has created a Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram and most importantly (at least for their first project), Kickstarter. Cat and David explained, “It’s a full time job keeping up with all the social media platforms.” The statement made me chuckle since my day job is a social media manager. The consistency they have shown across these platforms is great. They have released the cast list, photo shoots, performance venue information, rehearsal updates and videos. This is keeping people engaged and excited to see the show. Their budget for Hair is based around funding through Kickstarter, which has worked to their advantage. They have already reached their goal of just over $7,000 and the campaign closes on June 7. 7th House Theater Collective knows their audience and they are playing to that. Theaters tend to have “black days” on Monday, so a smart move on behalf of the group was to have two Monday shows. The fact is, many members of their fan base are actors themselves so now they can see the play on their night off. When I met with Cat and David, they said the two Monday shows have the highest amount of tickets reserved. An added note: the show is donation based. You can reserve tickets through Brown Paper tickets or show up the night of the show.