For Shame, Perth People!

The other night I went to do an adjudication of Blak Yak's latest play 'Deus ex Quanta' at the Subiaco Arts Centre. About half an hour later I came home again. Why? Because seeing that I WAS THE ONLY PERSON WHO TURNED UP TO SEE THE PLAY, they (quite reasonably) cancelled the performance!! This website has lately been full of people whingeing about clubs doing the same old shows again and again - Blak Yak offer you a new and different show - and nobody goes. You complain about having to travel too far to see shows - Blak Yak put on a show at Subiaco, couldn't get much more central - and nobody goes. You worry and fret about the future of Community Theatre, you want the Government to do something about it - but you don't support it! I have been involved with Community Theatre for 30 years; we have gone through good years and bad, and will do so again. The only thing that will bring about the demise of the community is apathy. No, I'm not affiliated with Blak Yak, its one of the few clubs I have not yet worked with. As Nick, the director, told me, when they do stage adaptations of crappy TV shows they have to turn people away. When they do a 'real' play they get no audience. Why? Does the title being in Latin scare you? They are trying to establish a reputation for doing new, different, edgey stuff - which is what many of you claim to want - but you won't support them. The play runs for one more week. They have to pay for the hire of the venue, help them to at least do that. Go and see it.

Maybe people dont go caoz it is bad. Fullstop.

Interesting to hear an adjudicator begging people to see a play - sounds as if you have already written your reveiew!! WHy not just sit at home next to the fire, with a glass of wine and write your review in comfort? The reality is already clear. In relation to audience it's the same WA over - get used to it! Only audience guareenteed is through either a) Musical (well-know) b) Pantomime of TV rip-off Or c) Large cast productions (family make up 50% seats). We live in a time of uneducated people who don't give a shit about arts and supporting the local community and talent on offer. BUT we still love doing it and continue to do so. No matter whether audience of 1, 25 or 200 - the show must continue. If they paid for the venue - more full them for not showing YOU how good they really were/are. ALL SHOWS ARE GOOD - JUST AUDIENCES THAT MAKE THEM BAD ..... P/T

Hello I think you need to re read Sue's comment before you make any comment P/T. She was unable to see the show because she was the only person in the audience. She therefore will have to go back on another night to see it. Her comment is about the lack of an audience, not commenting on the merits or otherwise of the play itself. Yes she commented on the type of play it was reported to be, but then everyone could see that from their publicity. Before you start to tell someone what to do, maybe a course in "understanding English 101:" might be in order. Kerri

I agree with P/T on one point. As there was an experienced, impartial and wise adjudicator present, why did the cast and crew not at least treat it as a 'special performance' or at least an extra rehearsal and give it all they had - what did they have to lose, except maybe a well-needed early night? Kerri- I think you need to take a leaf out of your own book! Ssstinger>>>

Did Blak Yak even bother to check their schedules against what other theatre productions were on at the same time? If there's too much on at the same time, that's one factor in not getting an audience. The other is how well-promoted things are.

I've criticised Black Yak for doing TV rip offs in the past and am glad they are doing something new and different. I'm booked for Friday! And they did promote the show. I saw some flyers around the place. Let's support Black Yak before that put on Dr. Who or something haha.

Is it possible Perth has too much theatre going on in general?

Fair enough question Peter. I offered to watch if they wanted to treat it as an extra rehearsal. After consultation with his cast, the Director said that they felt that any performance they gave would be flat and lacking in energy. They were all fairly miserable at the time. In their own opinions, they had quite a lot to lose! Having myself played to virtually empty houses in the past, I could understand. I felt it would have been grossly unfair and unsympathetic of me to have insisted on adjudicating a performance under those circumstances, so we all went our various ways. I shall return later this week and see the show under, hopefully, happier circumstances. And, contrary to P/T's opinion, I shall THEN make up my mind as to whether or not I like it. Sue.

Hopefully, Sue, as a supporter of Blak Yak, has emailed all her contacts, encouraging them to see the show, as a way of helping this ailing theatre.

Surely you jest, sirrah! To paraphrase HG Nelson, too much theatre is not nearly enough! Ssstinger>>>

It is a shame that this production is not drawing an audience as I really do dislike those adaptations of TV shows. I wish I could see this one, unfortunately I have to work away :( It just goes to show that you can never overestimate public taste. They don't have any!!! :(

It has been my view that a few cliques esist in our communitiy groups. I have been recently involved in two independent productions recently and, as far as i am aware, they did not receive any support from people in community theatre whom you might expect to come and support them. As one has been actively involved in getting people to go to community theatre shows (bringing them with me as paying guests to many clubs over a number of years) I have been dismayed by an attitude of one of the oldest clubs in our community in relation to publicity. I know that no amount of publicity (TV or print media) will get people to go to see shows. They will only be got there by word of mouth from friends who act with goodwill towards them.

Firstly: Thanks to Sue for posting. As mentioned she didn't see the show, but was good enough to encourage people to see it. Why? So they, like her, can make up their own minds regarding the shows merits or lack thereof. I'd also like to point out that for word of mouth to circulate, people actually need to see the show in the first place. And, yes. Blak Yak have done a few TV adeaptations, we've also done a lot of plays (more than TV shows, in fact). The only reason people continue to identify us as the TV Show club is because those adaptations are always massively successful which suggests, contrary to popular belief, that they are EXACTLY what people want to see. The actual plays fade into obscurity because no one sees them, therefore no one remembers them [despite the fact that Picasso's Women came third and Gemma won best actress at the Finley awards). Whatever we choose to do, we always do it to the best of our abilities and work on the strengths of each individual script, regardless of of origin. A good script is a good script no matter where it comes from. Almost done: when we do TV shows on stage, it's our way of making money. Other clubs do musicals, we don't have the resources for that so we do TV shows. This puts money in the bank so we can do shows like Deus Ex Quanta... which is playing to very small crowds. So if you want to avoid seeing Blak Yak doing more TV, come amd see the plays and we won't have to. Lastly, and this may seem a bit off topic, but having read through the whole string of posts on this here website, let me just say: READ THE OTHER POSTS BEFORE YOU RESPOND and actually pay attention to what they say [this will prevent you from appearing foolish- and yes, I know a similar point was made by Kerri, but it was such a good one it needed reiterating]. And MOST IMPORTANTLY: if you're going to post, regardless of what you're saying [be it good bad or stupid] it's your opinion, so at least have the common decency to commit to that by PUTTING YOUR NAME TO IT. None of this Walter Plinge nonsense [and for all you Futurama fans out there: it's actually HEDONISM Bot, not Hedonist Bot... tut tut tut] In closing: COME AND SEE MY SHOW AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN MINDS. Lots of love, Nick Donald - that's the director of DEUS EX QUANTA, just to clarify. Be Good

I'll come and I would bring friends, but as I'm sure you've pointed out to me in the past Nick, I have none ;) Seriously, if we as theatre enthusiasts can't support other clubs (may surprise some of you to know that whilst I'm a member of two theatre groups, Blak Yak isn't one of those) why the hell should we expect audiences to rock up for shows we're in? It seems to me that given there isn't a plethora of other groups performing this week (I think Blak Yak's scheduling was pretty good seeing as a lot of theatres don't have productions on until later this month) there should be plenty of people at a loose end this weekend who are able to go and see this play. Looking forward to it and hoping others will make the effort.

Book online at http://www.bocsticketing.com.au/ Deus ex Quanta is on the front page.

If I book online, do I just pick my tickets up at the theatre? It says something about having the tickets mailed to me on the website but I don't see how that would work if you book online, say, Friday to go on Saturday night. The last thing you'd want is the tickets to arrive on Monday in the post, after the show has been and gone.

Ironically, 'Cabaret', a show that has been done to death in recent years and is currently playing at Kwinana Theatre Workshops, is sold out for the whole season. Says something about our taste in theatre, eh? Ssstinger>>>

Maybe you should just get tickets at the door? Is that possible?

Given booking tickets seems to be so difficult, is it any wonder that people throw it in the "too-hard" basket and don't come?

WOW!!! Cabaret has actually sold out?! That's not bad considering they were only at something like 30% capacity when I booked just before opening night... There can only be one explanation for that: Bloody good word of mouth! Can't wait to see it now! So what constitutes "Done to death"? Apart from Wanneroo last year, (and there's a looong distance between Wanneroo and Kwinana) when was the last time someone did Cabaret? Can I urge people to see Deus ex Quanta I'm not going to be able to manage it But I LOVED it when they did it the first time many many years ago!

...yep, took me quarter of an hour to find out that TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR. So now, no one has any excuse not to come - right??? Given a large number of theatres use BOCS these days for bookings I find it a bit rich that Blak Yak seems to be being singled out for a confusing ticketting policy. Also, logically, given the highly unlikely chance that there would be a sell out, tickets would be available at the door. I've yet to see a theatre group turn away cash carrying punters. See you all at Subi.

Sold out? After just 2 shows and with 8 to go?? Wow!!! Not bad for a bunch of "rhinocerouses" eh?

I've always found BOCS Ticketing confusing because some shows on the site say the tickets will be there for you when you get to the show and the others say they will be posted out to you. It's not a matter of singling out Blak Yak, more an uncertainty about BOCS and its practices. I believe theatres with sell-out shows in Perth have often had to turn people away at the door, no matter how much cash they were carrying

It wouldn't be bad if it were true. I enquired ten minutes ago about three performance nights and they all had seats left, albeit not many. So there are still tickets left if people are interested. Looking forward to seeing it.

Who says we won't, one day, put "Doctor Who" on stage? Sounds like a great idea.

If this isn't indicative of the attitude of Perth local theatre, I don't know what is. Allow me to be honest and up front: I am involved with Deus Ex Quanta. And this thread began as a rally-cry to the people of Perth to actually engage and - possibly - challenge themselves to see something they had perhaps never seen before. And what does it become? All about Cabaret. Now, I'm sure Cabaret is a fine show, and I wish them all broken legs. But the point was made earlier: it's what people want to see. Cabaret is (to an extent) a known quantity. Here, we tried to give the people of Perth the opportunity to see a show they may have missed out on, and we were let down. There are a lot of newer plays that could become audience favourites if it wasn't the same thing done over and over and over again. Then again, I suppose you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. While I have your attention, stay tuned for Black Yak's 2009 seasons of Pride and Prejudice, The Importance of Being Earnest and A Mid-Summer Night's Dream. That ought to get some bums on seats.

....the one act season of Red Dwarf IV, Coupling II, and Black Books ad infinitum. Ah, to hell with it - looking forward to seeing Deus Ex Quanta tonite. "Wheres that playing again Murray?" Why, I believe it's playing at the Subiaco Arts Centre "And what time would that be?" Curtain up at 8.15pm - be there early for a beer or two.

Once you go through the steps of booking online, before you confirm payment, the BOCS site either says the tickets will be posted or, if there's not enough time for the post to deliver, it says "collect from venue" - so hey presto, your tickets will be there, no problems.

....just quietly, the chances of Blak Yak selling out a show seem extremely remote...hence the reason this thread was started. I guess my point was that there is little excuse to miss this show if you're at all motivated to see it. It's not like there's a huge number of other theatres putting on performances this weekend, there's only two games of footy on the box (alright, three if you count the WAFL), the choices at the cinema are hardly scintillating (unless you're planning on attending the anime or horror festivals), and quite frankly if you plan on staying in and watching BB Friday Games Live or the Gladiators season finale I'm wasting my time appealing to your better nature.

To look at things through a positive lens, perhaps such a lack of attendance to this show is less indicative of a lax theatre culture in Perth, but more of a thriving theatre culture that sees so many shows performing at the one time that audiences are unfortunately divided between the lot of them. Although it was this thread that alerted me to Deus Ex Quanta, after reading about it I placed it firmly on my list of shows to see. However, with the wealth of theatre currently being performed locally, community theatre as well as professional, my time and budget has simply not allowed for me to go and see it. While this translates negatively for Blak Yak's production, it can also be seen as a wonderful thing that the theatre-going people of Perth have such a variety of choice when it comes to what they want to see. On the topic of CABARET; Kwinana Theatre Workshop not only have a strong local support base who have bought tickets for the show, but it is a production that is quite different from the Company's most recent ventures. That, coupled with the size of the venue, is a large reason for the sellout. It does not necessarily represent an attitude of disinterest in Perth theatregoers when it comes to new or lesser-known works. That said also, CABARET is not as much of a known quantity as some people may first assume. It has a famous film attached to it, to be sure, but the film differs greatly from the stage production which is an intelligent and well-written piece of musical theatre, that has not only stood the test of time but is constantly undergoing new interpretation. I believe the production at KTW may destroy some people's pre-conceived notions of the show and how it should be presented. All that being said, I sincerely urge people to support local theatre if they can and go see this production of Blak Yak's at the Subiaco Arts Centre. The biggest shame here would be for a great work of theatre to go unappreciated :-)

Sorry guys, we weren't the ones who hijacked the thread... But if anyone is reading this... REALLY REALLY GO SEE DEUS EX QUANTA I don't think I ever have or ever will see another show like it... (If the last time was anything to go by) PS Scott: I like Dorothy Praker's version "You can lead a horticulture but you cannot make her think!"

I hope you are in jest??????

I've got one word to say to you regarding lack of audience..."Marketing'. I had no idea this play was on. Not an email in my in box, no poster in my library or local shopping centre, nothin' caught my eye in and around subi, west perth , leederville.....but lots of other plays HAVE come to my attention. so look at who promotes this type of thing. No point in having a good product if nobody knows about it