Anton In Show Business

written by: jane martin   directed by: susie gidseg

Directors Note

This is a play about the theatre. It is a play about people that are in the theatre, from the diva actresses to the naive innocents, to the directors that think they know it all.

This is a play about collaboration, both in the script and in real life, Anton in Show Business asks us to remove our idea of what theatre is supposed to be like; fancy sets, expensive costumes, actors who stay in character the whole time, audiences that stay quiet and simply watch.

This is a play about coming together. For the vestige group, a theatre company a little over a year old, it is about casting just the right people to make this show work. Casting people who not only act extremely well- but when asked to do things above and beyond what you would consider "normal theatre practices" and do it, no questions asked.

Somehow theatre as an art form continues to thrive. It's funny when you think about it. Anton in Show Business poses the question to us, "Is it over for the theatre?" It certainly could be. As the arts get less and less funding, and theatre programs are removed from schools, when actors get excited over a 50 dollar stipend for a month of work and sometimes it seems like all odds are against a project coming together- It somehow always does.

Because there is something about the theatre. "It fascinates you. It seduces you". It sucks you into a world not your own and for a moment both the actors and the audience know that what they are creating actually means something. This doesn't always happen, but sometimes. And it's those moments that keep the audience coming back, and the actors keep pursuing their craft.

There is something liberating, as a director, about throwing all theatrical conventions out the window. To produce a play that delves into who we are as theatre artists, the ups and downs and ins and outs of our profession. Theatre will survive, I am certain of it, and it will do so, against seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Because people will continue, always, to create. Hoping that it will be good. Really, really, good. And that it may move people, resonate with them.

"It could happen, maybe, maybe not. Well, you came tonight anyway."

Enjoy the Show.
Susie Gidseg
Director