Adam Kelly - Theatre's Future in Canada
Canadian Playwright Says Audiences Need More Excitement
Adam Kelly believes in theatre that asks questions. It’s up to the audience to figure out the answers, from the comedy of Alan’s Search to the tragedy of The Anorak. But will people ever tire of their home screens?
This country is in a deep economic recession which does not bode well for the any of the arts disciplines. How is the Anglo Theatre scene in Montreal, for that matter, theatre in general? Is the audience growing?
Adam Kelly: “We have a very real danger of losing what we’ve got here which isn’t very much already, when you compare it to what’s going on in Toronto and New York. In Montreal, we have two paying theatre companies. That’s not very much in terms of English theatre. We have The Centaur (Theatre Company) and The Saidye Bronfman, and that’s it.
“There are companies who manage to struggle to pay their actors union or semi-union wages but for the most part, it’s tough. But buy when the market is low I guess. That’s the way I see it. Theatre itself is on a massive decline and a massive low in its history right now. It’s just a matter on betting on whether it is going to come back or not. Everyone is hooked on television and now the Internet. That’s their lives, and I’m betting that over time, that detachment that has happened from watching a screen is going to change ,and people eventually will want to see something live.
Do you really think this trend will turn around ?
Adam Kelly: “I think when it comes to the theatre, people will get sick of staring at a g**damn screen all the time and being alone in their apartments or homes. I think eventually there’s going to be a resurgence of - ‘You know what? I want to see something live.’ It’s definitely there, because people go and see concerts all the time and there is that aspect of it.
“But with the visual stimulus of television and electron beams shining in their eyes, I think people will eventually realize, it will be more fun and better for them to go out and actually socialize a bit, - still see entertainment, but see it live in front of them. But whatever they get, has to be new and exciting and not boring.
"This is the danger of theatre. You go by the book and you don’t live in the moment so you are just doing this sh*tty show. I think part of the reason people aren’t going to see the theatre, is because theatre has been sh*tty. If you want people to go, it has to be good."
Adam Kelly is currently working on 2009 tour dates for his one man show The Anorak in New York for The Alternate Theatre and a remount of the play at Toronto’s Ryerson College, in addition to dates in Montreal. His comedy troupe The Dancing Cock Brothers will perform at The Montreal Fringe Fest in June 2009.
Alan’s Search for The Best Girl in Montreal opens Feb 12 and runs to Feb 21 at Montreal'sTheatre 314.
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