Introduction by Kay Bourne
We annually pay tribute to a theater artist or group of theater artists who exemplify the spirit Kenneth A. MacDonald evidenced in directing and producing plays. He was
adventuresome, keen on the classics and new work as well, and persistent.
To give but a couple of examples, in the Sixties Ken staged “A Woman of Paris” in the basement of the Arlington Street Church downtown Boston and Saroyan’s “Hello Out
There” in Grove Hall in the church from which the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began his march through Roxbury to Carter Playground. He was an original theater artist in residence at the BCA, staging, for instance, Shakespeare here in the Cyclorama.
This year’s Kenneth A. MacDonald Award goes to the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston.
An original musical about a heist of art works from a museum on the fens. Actors swinging from trapezes in a modern day poet’s interpretation of some Greek myths.
A Chekov comedy done in Russian which is so good it is the first foreign language
production to head to the nationals in the annual community theater competition. The entire second season of a beloved British TV comedy series staged in Charlestown.
This is a mere sampling of the remarkable, too often unsung, work done by the 28 organizational members and 11 individual members who comprise the Small Theatre
Alliance of Boston.
The group has a single paid position of a General Manager who oversees its five standing committees which among other duties markets the group’s productions and tends to the storage facility of available props that can be viewed on a searchable database with pictures of them. It offers professional development workshops and reaches into the largely untapped student community in Boston to develop and encourage young artists to
become active in the small theater scene.
The members produce more than 160 productions each season. The Small Theatre Alliance of Boston represents more than 150 artists devoted to theater in the way Kenneth A. MacDonald was.
Please welcome to the podium the President of the Board of The Small Theatre Alliance of Boston Meg Taintor.
Alliance Acceptance Speech, delivered by Meg Taintor
Thank you very much. I'm so pleased to be here accepting this special honor on behalf of the 29 organizational and 12 individual members of the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston.
Our first two years have been a whirlwind: in addition to the projects that Kay mentioned, we’ve hosted two years of FeverFest, instituted a student pass that provides $5 tickets to member productions for local students, and hosted a series of panel discussions aimed at exploring the identity, benefits and challenges of the small theatre community. This very evening, a large number of our members have convened at the Burren in Davis Square for our semi-monthly Playwright’s Open Mic Night.
This is a very exciting time to be working in Boston. Something about this city is attracting artists to stay here, and new companies are springing up with surprising regularity. And this is despite all the challenges that we all know exist in this town: a dearth of affordable performance spaces, an ever-decreasing availability of funding, and the sharp decline in media coverage of local arts in our papers. The Independent Reviewers of New England can and do fill a void here - in a time when more small theatres are struggling to get the word of mouth out about their work, the 15 reviewers who serve on the IRNE nominating committee have the opportunity to really help shape the conversation about the level and quality of work that is being done in Boston.
That said, now I have to be the guest who makes the party a little awkward.... As I was gathering information about our member companies to share this evening, I asked them not only about the size and scope of their organizations and their seasons, but also about their experiences with the IRNEs. The response was surprising to me, and I want to share it with you.
Of the 15 IRNE reviewers, three have never seen a single show put on by an Alliance member company. Another six have seen less than 10 shows. And remember that number Kay gave you before about our collective volume of work: in the course of this season alone, we will mount 170 productions. And, if audience trends continue, over half of the IRNE committee will see less than 2% of that. I think we can all do better.
We, the Alliance, can do better at making sure our members know how to contact you, so you always get information about the work we so dearly want you to see. In the next week, we on the Executive Board of the Alliance will reach out to the individual committee members to ascertain the best way for our members to inform and invite you. Because there is great work happening out on the fringes! Hopefully, we can jumpstart this conversation about the work being done on all of our stages. After all, the conversations that take place between the critics and the artists are what shape the future of our artistic growth and contributions. Those of you who we see often in our theatres challenge us to do better work - and we value that dialogue tremendously.
We are so grateful for this acknowledgement of our work -- your invitation to have us here tonight shows us that our allied efforts are worth the time we put in. It tells us that showing up in droves really can pique the interest of our large and bountiful theatre community. So thank you again, on behalf of the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston.
