It could happen.

Well, as one embarks on a new endeavour, there are those dark moments in which one contemplates the pure, utter disaster that a failure could be.  Whoosh.  Super-not-so-fun.  I know about his because I have failed before -- it's embarrasing, to say the least.  Usually costs a lot of money.  But...I've also managed a few wins.  

I often want to get up and have a gander at the world.  As short as I am, I will pile things up, climb on top and and have a good look around.  Makes me quite the target.  So, with Oleanna, my latest project, I am pretty much up as high as I can go and whosoever might be gunning for me (fate, circumstance, plain bad luck) should be able to take me out without too much trouble -- as I have gone ahead and piled up what could be considered some rickety stuff to stand on this time out.

Not that Oleanna is, in any way, a bad play or that I am unsure of being able to a great job of it but more this:  We are living in interesting times, as the old proverb goes, and most theatres are doing shows that are easier and more fun to go and see. They want as many bums in the seats as they can get. Oleanna is many things, including a riveting piece of work, but it is not easy. It's not fun. And, of course, theatre is supposed to be dying.... Yikes!

Well, I am pretty sure theatre isn't dying but I do think our audience is no longer aware of the innate benefits of seeing live theatre. I was shocked a year or so back when a woman in her late thirties confessed that she had never seen a live theatre production in her life. Never. Wow. And I am thinking there are more people in her shoes than I would have previously believed. Of course, there are a lot of folks for whom live theatre is only the last touring production of Beauty and the Beast.  Hmmmmm....

So, if a lot of my potential audience are in these boats, how would they know that intimate, live theatre is a fantastic, visceral experience shared between artist and audience? That there's nothing like it? Well. They wouldn't.

So, I am going to have to sell this one. And I will. As well as contacting the theatre lovers, since Oleanna is an altercation between college professor and student, I have a marketing plan that includes reaching out to the (how many?) college and university level students and faculty in the fine city of Toronto. Hopefully, I can intrigue some of them to try something that may be completely new to them.

Other than that, I have my fundraiser on the go and getting all my other ducks lined up nicely. All I wish is this: That I will do everything in my power to make Oleanna a success. If I do it all and still fail, then I will actually be proud of myself even though it will look a lot like failure to other folks. I am thinking that we only really fail in life by not trying, by not doing what we imagine, or by not trying hard enough when the opportunity comes along.

And maybe, just maybe, all that work will add up to a win this time out. It could happen.


 
Make a donation to Raising Oleanna, a fundraiser in support of Jacqui's production of Oleanna by David Mamet.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing and producing Oleanna by David Mamet for a two week run at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  



Jacqui Burke
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