Pig Farm

Thanks to Parabasis, many bloggers got the opportunity to take a look at PIG FARM, currently playing at the Laura Pels, produced by the Roundabout.

What strikes me, looking back on the experience of watching this play, is that the intended audience is under under 35 and the actual audience is over 55. This is how I felt about the Broadway run of "Bridge and Tunnel." Because of ticket prices and because of how these things are promoted... my friends and I (I'm 30) rarely get the resources to see these things once, let alone multiple times. Being that I'm an exceptionally interested viewer (a playwright and theatre blogger) it says a great deal that I was brought to this play by a free ticket and an organized effort.

Think of it like this..."Pig Farm" received a negative review from Charles Isherwood, and that, we know, can make or break a show in this town. Why is that? "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" got universally bad reviews, and it's breaking box office records. A.O. Scott even wrote an article about why movie critics BOTHER.

So, if the Times can break a play, and not a movie (excluding the national figures and sticking locally, because you KNOW you saw the Dumb Pirates Movie) ... why do plays like Pig Farm (essentially the next thing out of the pen of the Urinetown team, and it's brilliantly funny) gather so little buzz among their true audience?

First of all, the audience is dwindling. We know this. Enough said about that.

Second is that ticket prices are absolutely restrictive. Unlike movie reviews, which are read for water cooler talk as much as actual dollar guidance, reviews of plays are guiding a far greater allocation of resources. $50 tickets to see a play, even one as entertaining as PIG FARM, is too much for most of the audience for which PIG FARM is written.

The third issue is obviously advertising. How do movies combat the critics? Mult-million dollar advertising campaigns, big stars, DVD sales... every way to surround and interest an audience is available to them. Theatre audiences are not given this sort of intense advertising, and therefore, must be reached in a new or different way. Runs are limited, audiences are local, and plays are unknown. So how do you create the sort of interest in plays that turns a risk-averse, aging audience into a young audience, hungry for the next big play, checking the listings to see where they should go?

One step may just be what you're reading right now: Grassroots and blogging. Not too toot our collective horns (we're not anything to write home about yet) the fact is that media is far more democratic than it once was, and opinion is far less of a precious commodity. I'm sure Charles Isherwood and Ben Brantley don't feel competitive with the blogsphere, partially because they welcome (or I would hope they welcome) a healthy discussion of their criticism and an acknowledgment that someone is paying careful attention. Broad discussion is good for us.

So...what did I think of PIG FARM? It's a lot of fun. I haven't seen URINETOWN (can't afford it) but I can see why Isaac is so enthusiastic about this play. It's got physically inventive comedy, gracefully enacted. The language is joyfully bizarre and distanced. The direction GETS the text perfectly, and the actors all seem in just the right world. I laughed my ass off. I would. I'm 30.

Basically, there crowd for this play didn't really get it. I don't blame them. It wasn't precious, wasn't meaningful and there weren't any songs or moments of flashy stagecraft. It's a big fatty cheeseburger from a Gourmet restaurant, cooked bloody red. It's for those of us that go to Paul's on St. Marks and don't make reservations for French cuisine each weekend. It's a play for the kind of people I WISH were going to the theatre more often.

SO, for all of y'all that want to see something worth your time, and to show that there is a young audience out there that would like to check out this type of theater... here's a discount code provided by the Roundabout for slightly less expensive seats:


Code: PFINTE
35% off tickets to Pig Farm, now through September 3rd Only. Tickets only $39.75-$46.75 (reg $56.25-$66.25)
Call 212-719-1300 or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org. Be sure to use code PFINTE. Offer subject to availability. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Hopefully in the future that discount will say $20. But that won't happen unless we make it clear that we're interested in coming to see these plays.

Other thoughts on PIG FARM...

Ian
Mark
James
Dan