DramaLit Blog 1.0: BU School of Theatre

My second love, or rather, my equivalent love to theatre will always be film. I am as avid a theatre-goer as I am a cinephile. We live in an age where film technology and it’s relevance to our culture is advancing at rapid rates, influencing people artistically and emotionally. For some reason, the theatre world and the film world are constantly at an existential divide. Yes, both are different mediums and different artistic beasts; but if they collaborate and aid one another creatively, beautiful things can happen. Roundabout’s 2010 production of Brief Encounter and their presentation of the Menier Chocolate Factory’s 2008 production of Sunday in the Park with George are two great examples of how film technology can enter into the world of the theatre and enhance the experience. Both used film and/or digital technology to bring their stories to life, not to demean or dilute them.

I’ve become more interested in the film/theatre collaboration because of an experience I had this summer. While I was in Los Angeles, a friend invited me to see a movie with her at Hollywood Forever. I thought this was a cool old cinema of some kind, until she further explained to me that what we were actually doing was going to see a movie at a cemetery. “Wow wow wow, cool cool cool” were my first thoughts. Buried in the cemetery are Douglas Fairbanks Jr (and senior!), Celcil B. DeMille, Janet Gaynor, Jayne Mansfield, Hattie McDaniel, Johnny Ramone, and President Harry Truman among countless others. I had no idea the effect this locale would have on my movie going experience until I arrived. Blankets in hand, friends in tow, and of course a bottle of red wine, we plopped ourselves 15 feet from Douglas Fairbanks Jr.’s grave and prepared to watch the classic Hal Ashby film, Harold and Maude. Hollywood Forever Cemetery has been hosting these movie screening events all summer for the last ten years through a program called Cinespia. Harold and Maude was a movie I had seen before and liked. But I wasn’t a deep lover of the film until I was surrounded by the old Paramount Studios behind the cemetery, the clear night sky, and legend all around me. Maude says “A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They’re just backing away from life.” and I was forced to take that in with my whole self. It was a sensory overload. But one of which I was glad I had no escape.

There are outdoor movie screenings all over the country, but I can’t imagine that the number of them with specific relevance to place, time, and audience is high. My experience at Hollywood Forever made me think about all the times I’ve seen outdoor theatre a la Shakespeare in the park or by the sea. Few are chosen for the relevance of time and place, and more for the simple experience of viewing theatre outdoors. Anyone can put on a play outside. Anyone can show a movie on the side of a building. But it is the people who choose to do these things with thought and accountability of their audiences that actual move people to knew ways of thinking and understanding.

I can’t help but believe that my night at Hollywood Forever was not just a cinematic experience, but a theatrical one as well. This is only a granule of the kind of collaboration that I think can happen between theatre and film. When I sat on the grass that evening, it wasn’t just about the film I was watching. It was about the all around sensory experience. Death, life, food, drink, friends, lovers, and the moonlight to see it all by. It was as much a people watching experience as it was a film experience. There was no dark theatre to hide your reactions. Just strangers and friends being asked to share in this once in a lifetime experience together. It was theatrical.

Though Boston has some summer outdoor movie screenings like the Boston Harbor Hotel puts on every summer, there are few of significant merit. I hope that one day we do get a film company or better yet, a theatre/film company to come and change the way we view outdoor theatre experiences. Boston’s rich history and cultural significance offer a variety of site specific venues for the perfect theatre or film going experience.