“This is the 4th year of the BOAT Fest, the first one was in 2004. We also did it in 2006, 2008 and this year,” Festival Coordinator Sean Walbeck said. “If the world was perfect it’d be annual.”
Walbeck has been the festival coordinator each of the four years, but recently financial constraints have impacted the festival and how often it can be organized.
“It doesn’t really make money, it’s a break even kind of thing, which is why we can’t afford to do the BOAT fest every year. Bellingham is still a small town,” Walbeck said.
Plays for the festival aren’t selected critically, as Walbeck wants the BOAT Fest to remain very open to the public for participation.
“It’s a non-jury, non-invitational festival. We have a core contingency of groups that we contact when the applications are out. About one-third of this years acts are put on by returning groups,” Walbeck said.
Local theatre companies have about two months to write and direct their own works, and perform their productions three times over the two week timespan. For Kari Lee the BOAT Fest is rare opportunity to perform in a play rather than improv.
“I have been doing improvisational theater as part of the Upfront Theater's mainstage ensemble for about 6 years. I have only periodically done scripted work, mostly sketches in Upfront shows and a few projects at the Idiom,” Lee said. Lee makes up one half of S & K Productions, along with Sally Unger, and this is the first year S & K productions have participated in the BOAT Fest.
Although some shows are completed and performed long before the BOAT fest begins, many aren’t rehearsed until after the December entry deadline.“Sally Unger and I started to write ‘The Devil In Room 12’ a couple months ago. Admittedly, we procrastinated fine-tuning it until a few weeks before showtime. The first time we performed was last week at the BOAT fest.”
While some performers honed their skills at workshops and theatre companies, others came directly from WWU.
“I went to WWU trying to play soccer and they told me that I would be able to play after a couple years on the team, on the bench and stuff. I knew a couple people that were in the theatre department and I decided to try out for a play. I got a part, and I didn't have to wait on the bench to act,” Matthew Riggins said.
The BOAT fest is the first opportunity for Riggins to produce work under his new Mount Vernon business, Redfoot Theatre Company.
“We started Redfoot Theatre Company about a month ago, I wrote some plays so I didn't have to pay royalties. It's like living the dream a little bit. I have to give Western a lot of credit for the knowledge I have and the stuff I'm able to teach people,” Riggins said.
One obstacle posed by the BOAT festival is the difference in subject matter between all twelve shows. The mature nature of some productions has caused a unique rating system to be instituted.
“As with any sort of fringe show, there are people who want to see some vulgarity and others who don’t. We ask people in the play to rate them on the “chili scale”, which is 0 to 4 chilis. We tell them that if someone complains that the rating wasn’t appropriate, we will point you out to the person complaining. We also start the kid friendly shows earlier so that parents can leave right after the show,” Walbeck said
Walbeck says the BOAT Fest not only provides a cheap venue for aspiring playwrights, but can ideally create new theatre fans.
“This crosses off a lot of long term goals for the theatre guild, and it brings in people who normally don’t watch theatre,” Walbeck said.
According to Walbeck, few WWU students participate in shows at the Bellingham Theatre Guild, which is a problem for directors like Riggins who need actors.
“I was just lucky in that I was able to find actors very quickly. Unless directors have people they know, it's hard to find people sometime to fill the slots, because those actors are wanting to be in bigger shows.”
Aside from performing whenever possible, Riggins has advice for theatre majors at WWU.
“In college, we learned a lot of good rules and things to follow, but when you get out there, people are in theatre and do theatre for different reasons. There's great theatre everywhere. Look for theatre in your church. There's great theatre in the courtroom. My advice would be to look for theatre in places that you wouldn't expect,” Riggins said.
Tickets for the BOAT Fest are available at the doors of the Bellingham Theatre Guild, located at 1600 H Street. For more information, contact Sean Walbeck at 360-647-9242.
No comments:
Post a Comment