Finding the Space for Theatre
Nico on Jan 27 2008 at 3:01 pm | Filed under: General Theatre, Miscellany
The problem with being committed to doing full theatre, the whole shebang, with costume changes and sets and props and lighting effects and what-have-you, is that there really aren’t a whole lot of spaces in Nassau to do it in.
People who focus on social commentary, satire, and sketches are better served. There are spaces that can work. But there’s really only one full theatre readily available for Bahamians in the capital.
And that’s the Dundas.
Yes, there are theatres in the hotel complexes. Cable Beach has one, the Rainforest, and Atlantis has one. And yes, every investor spouts empty promises about putting theatres in their development. But how accessible are they really? Can theatre companies go in and set their own lights, design their own sound, erect their sets, and leave them in place during the run?
Not a chance.
The Dundas is the only such space in town.
And it’s astronomically expensive. For The Children’s Teeth, more than 50% of our production cost was spent on Dundas rent alone — more than on advertising, paying salaries, anything else. We just can’t afford it anymore.
Ringplay has worked in other spaces. Our personal favourite was the old COB auditorium, which we transformed into a strange and intimate performance space for Macbeth 2001, placing the stage on the floor and the seats on risers in a semi-circle vaguely approximating a thrust stage. Can’t do that anymore, though there are spaces that might accommodate such transformation, like maybe the Garfunkel Auditorium in the summer (during the school year we would be interfering with regular activities). But really, there are so few theatres in Nassau that it’s no wonder that theatre’s been on the wane lately.
And how many plays attract 300 patrons a night anyway?
(Notice: I said plays, not shows. There are certainly shows that can attract far more. But are those the only shows we need in town?)
We have long thought there’s a need in Nassau for a small theatre, something that seats fewer than 100 people, where plays can be put on and perform to full houses and where we don’t have to put out an arm, a leg, and our land papers to get inside.
We think we’ve found such a space. We used it for rehearsals, and we were happy with it. It’s called the HUB. It’s not just a theatre, but a multi-purpose space for artists. Be that as it may, we think it just might work.
We’re aiming to mount our next production there. So keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground.
