Initial Idea

Well, here are my thoughts for a hole in the wall theatre. For non-local readers Seattle has a vibrant a varied theatre community. Across Lake Washington are several cities including Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue, and Issaquah which are collectively called the East Side. These were bedroom communities in the 50's, 60's, and 70's located near and occasionally on rich farmland.

Then high tech in the form of Microsoft came to town in the 80's and concrete tilt-ups for manufacturing, office parks, and strip malls became the predominate architecture. Affluence came along as well. It is an interesting juxtaposition. Beautiful estates and gated communities, abutting strip malls and office parks already getting seedy and middle-class housing developments which look more like penal institutions than homes.

Having known the area in the late 70's and coming back twenty years later I was stunned by the change in appearance and behavior. Much of the farmland is now unattractive industrial or office parks. It is now official policy in these burgs to pack up homeless people and dump them in Seattle, then complain loudly about paying taxes to support shelters, when there is not a homeless problem on the East Side. There are exorbitant graduation ceremonies for kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high kids. Often with limousines. Again with the limousines, they are like a plague for several months as everybody needs one for numerous high school functions at the end of the year. Most of the region looks on the East Side as being very self-involved and arrogant. It is hard to deny it is so, yet there are pockets of very low income families (I often wonder how they feel at school).

This is a somewhat biased view, and I am among the first to mock my East Side peers. Stereotypical example. A while back I ordered a pizza delivery and the delivery boy spent ten minutes ragging on my driveway curb because he bottomed out his expensive sports car. His folks got it for him for maintaining a 2.5 or 3.0 as a ninth or tenth grader. I explained homeowners didn't get to alter the curb, so he should complain to the city. His tirade continued while my dinner cooled and for the only time ever I gave no tip for delivery. An expensive car for mediocre grades -- I wasn't very sympathetic. The kids are indicative of the grown-ups. Now there are scads of decent considerate folks, I'm just drawing the average type as perceived by most of the area. There are of course really poisonous people as well. My point being we have a normal spread of folks, though I have trouble relating to the 'average' values.

To be fair, I think this dark view of the East Side is over the top. It is a stereotype and the perception many have of the East Side. That perception even more than the truth beneath it makes dramatic theatre a hard go on the East Side.

There is some musical theatre and light comedy which does well here. There have been several theatres which have tried to put up drama, and all I am aware of have failed except for Exchange Theatre, which moved to Seattle. In each of the cases big investments were made in infrastructure and/or venue. I want to keep those investments very small to start with, aiming to get a solid toehold before expanding. With these challenges, real or perceived, here is my rough cut.

I think item 'I.' is a pie in the sky idea, but like many of these thoughts, if I don't ask the chances are zero.

East Side Fringe
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I. Provide a low cost venue for professional fringe theatre productions from Seattle, bringing dramatic and experimental theatre to East King County.

1. Introduce local audiences to fringe theatre.
   
2. Attract artists from Seattle for serious and controversial productions in East King County.
   
3. Attract local audience already familiar and appreciative of Seattle based fringe theatre companies.
   

II. Provide a venue for a professional fringe theatre production company in East King County.

1. Introduce local audiences to fringe theatre.
   
2. Provide an outlet for talented local artists to work dramatic and experimental theatre.
   
   • Provide a venue for east side artists that don't want to deal with the commute.
     
   • Provide a proving ground for east side artists, including art in the lobby
     
   • Give aspiring directors a meaningful assistant director opportunities.
     
   • Provide an opportunity for east side actors to move up to professional productions.
     
   
   
3. Attract artists from Seattle for serious and controversial productions in East King County.
   

III. Provide a venue for community theatre productions.

1. Give aspiring local artists an intimate and demanding setting in which to work.
   
   • Use experienced directors to help actors achieve truthful performances.
     
   • Use experienced actors to mentor new actors.
     
   • Give aspiring directors a meaningful assistant direction and direction opportunities.
     
   
   
2. Provide audiences with the best quality community theatre.