I have no solid thesis on how this can be leveraged for indie theatre yet, but I have a suspicion that we are not using our resources to the full extent possible.

Hm. I certainly agree with you that the web isn’t the immediate marketing solution (I actually think that’s meeting the potential audience face-to-face), but I think that it could be used to much greater affect regionally to encourage that solution. (Speaking solely for my own region. I see that some other cities are more advanced at dialoguing as a community online than here in Vancouver, like Chicago.)

And judging from the web’s impact on other entertainment industries, I think my expectations are entirely reasonable. Ultimately, I think theatre is very insulated from technology by its nature, and is taking to cyber-communications gingerly. And you’re bang on, when you hang on the theatrosphere your scope does expand. But as a local marketing and networking tool, my community has got to cozy up to the web more if we want the uninitiated to sit up and take notice.

I love the notion that you drop here about the internet introducing a sense of accessible permanence to theatre ideas for the first time. There is much to consider in that.

Then you realize that you’re talking to seven people… only.

So this convergence of theater and web is not a complete solution – certainly not a marketing solution. But it’s still valuable. It is a really fast way to open your eyes as a theater and understand the full context in which you operate. And that knowledge of context will reap many rewards – but they come slowly.

Here on the web, our words stick around. We’re not used to this in theater production. They continue to work for you after you have forgotten about them. Our thoughts accrue and spread and mix, and if they are well-formed, they come back to us, and suddenly they have more power than when we posted them. We have a lot of work yet to do, but the web is eroding and changing all the arts right now, and the theatrosphere doesn’t seem to be treating that change like a fad. So I don’t think it will be one.

I hope to God that you’re right. I see next to no evidence of that here in Vancouver, at least in a marketing sense. Much work to do.

This is something I will be discussing further in an upcoming guest post right here on Theatre is Territory (it’s coming guys, it’s coming…).

Doing the interviews and running this blog over the past two years has been rewarding beyond measure.

I actually didn’t see this coming. I thought I’d be able to keep blogging in this space at that pace for years on end. And then one day, in late September, I just hit the wall. It was a strange experience. And then I was just kind of paralyzed. Not wanting to kill the blog, but not able to continue it either. Mike gave me some space to figure out what I was going to do, and then tactfully offered to help.

Amazing.

Limitations bug me. I supposed most people are bothered by their limitations. But if you love something, you set it free. Right?

One thing is for sure, I’m going to start up our interview series again when the time is right. I look forward to that.

Thanks Nick.

And bravo for recognizing your limitations, recognizing the talent in Michael, and having the foresight to keep this force of commentary and dialogue rolling in a sustainable way. It’s really, really valuable.

O Canada.

For today, I will suggest as myself from the comments section that the convergence of the internet and theatre is something that is becoming more than a fad:

Cute With Chris just closed at the Theatre Centre here in Toronto. (Opens tonight for an extended run in LA.) The production was sold out for many shows because of the immense fan base Chris Levins intentionally and systematically created for the show over using his website.

Other than more blogging, how can new technology be harnessed better to increase the popularity of indie theatre? How can we use the tools we already have to reach a wider audience?

I enjoy our debates too. It would get pretty boring if we all just agreed with each other constantly.

Thanks also for the props re: the election. My work with Department of Culture was revelatory to me in terms of the actual resources the arts community possesses. I’m going to continue to address more overtly partisan issues (I hesitate to use “political”. Everything is political) at departmentofculture.ca as a private citizen in my own time, not representing any not-for-profit organization.

My challenge on Theatre is Territory is to help facilitate discussion, debate and information about indie theatre. Fortunately Ian is here too, to guide me at this. There’s nothing really broken with this thing, so as the saying goes…

Looking forward to more of Michael’s insights. Even when we disagree, I always appreciate the intelligent debate. And after seeing him in the trenches during the election, I’m extremely happy he’s going to have a wider forum.

This blog has a special place on the blogisphere and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.