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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2016 20:35:19 GMT
Yes, theatre people work hard for, generally, little money. To have others sneer and bitch would make any awards that do so look pretty awful. Even the potentially humorous ones like the Union's loos. Given our long running thread maybe 'worst audience behaviour' would be an option though, at least it highlights it!
An award for 'best small theatre' (under 150 seats or so) would also reward those who usually get steamrollered by bigger, wealthier places. What about 'best pre-show announcement'?
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Post by DuchessConstance on Feb 23, 2016 23:00:14 GMT
Can we still do comedy ones like Best Animal Performer?
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Post by joem on Feb 24, 2016 0:43:00 GMT
Might it be an idea, in pursuance of this or the profile of the board in general, to move from the virtual world to the real one?
"An evening with theatreboard" at some small venue???
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Post by catqc on Feb 24, 2016 0:57:32 GMT
Might it be an idea, in pursuance of this or the profile of the board in general, to move from the virtual world to the real one? "An evening with theatreboard" at some small venue??? This is a nice idea in theory but I think people are forgetting that WOS has a full time paid staff to organise these things. We have had some very kind people putting in lots of time and in some cases money to setting up a new board, but I assume they have lives and jobs of their own and don't want to also set up a whole awards system and ceremony |
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Post by Nicholas on Feb 24, 2016 4:12:04 GMT
Might it be an idea, in pursuance of this or the profile of the board in general, to move from the virtual world to the real one? "An evening with theatreboard" at some small venue??? This is a nice idea in theory but I think people are forgetting that WOS has a full time paid staff to organise these things. We have had some very kind people putting in lots of time and in some cases money to setting up a new board, but I assume they have lives and jobs of their own and don't want to also set up a whole awards system and ceremony Yes, but the second Theatreforum was going to close almost everyone said “I’ll do what I can to help” – it’s just that starting up a website requires a skillset not everyone has, so many of us eager beavers took a back seat. As one of the many who immediately leapt up to start a new website only to realise I don’t know how to start a new website and immediately sat back down again, so with no existing commitment to the board, I know I’m not alone in saying that I’d happily contribute any help (and a little money) to whatever awards or ceremony or just meet-up we arrange! Though having leapt up to start this my experience at organising galas with strangers at small unknown venues is about as extensive as my experience at creating websites, so perhaps I’ll just sit back down again...
I think we should have ‘worst of’ awards, but decent categories. Worst toilets but in a major theatre (Duffman or Vaudeville), Worst audience behaviour (Old Vic), Worst recurring audience habit (vertical hairstyles), Worst announcement of an announcement of an announcement of an announcement (this announcement of our theatre awards next year), Worst booking system (so many!), Worst membership (any suggestions xanderl?), Worst pricing brackets (possibly the NT). We could also, if we fancied, have some interesting ones, like Worst excuse for lack of diversity in a cast (Nunn) or Worst soul-selling sponsorship deal (been reading about BP so getting all Guardian-y about this) or Worst ticket prices (which we should do however nice our final tone is). I like to get bitchy, so let’s get bitchy for a good cause.
But also we could be nice, and I like the idea that we could use our grassroots awards to reward the smaller people neglected – almost like a WOS Awards for theatres of 200 seats or under, or on the fringes. Obviously we couldn’t vote on those as we couldn’t see everything, but we could take nominations, hear the reasoning therein, put together a jury of volunteers, maybe take a poll... Amidst all of this it would be nice to give credit where credit’s due but never given, to praise those theatres too small to attract major praise but worth praising. Plus, even if we just stuck to traditional performer/director/show categories, I’d be fascinated to see what consensus as to the best of on this board ended up being. We should also have ‘The Alan Rickman Award for Famous Person Most Frequently Spotted in the Theatre’.
I think we should sleep on this, and not do it until perhaps our first anniversary in 2017, but I think we should do this!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 5:53:51 GMT
The problem with volunteers is that there's nothing binding them. A few years ago the moderators tried to arrange a couple of meetups for the forum and there were loads of people who said it was a great idea, but when it got to the point of actually committing to it there was nothing but tumbleweeds. Everyone is all enthusiastic when talking about something a long way off but then other concerns intervene and they think "I'm just one person; it won't matter if I drop out" and it ends up with a week to go and nobody left.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Feb 24, 2016 7:37:53 GMT
On the other hand volunteers can be a wonderful and powerful thing. Look what we've done here with a few volunteers!
I think this is a lovely idea for later on in the life of the forum (1st anniversary sounds perfect) and it will live or die by the commitment of those involved. Simple as that.
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Post by joem on Feb 24, 2016 9:28:07 GMT
If we can't arrange a meet-up we certainly can't arrange a "ceremony" although what I had in mind was more of an "open evening" to start off with as a PR exercise.
Volunteers without responsibilities are sometimes like headless chickens. People would need to commit themslelves to do certain things and these people would obviously need to volunteer for the tasks. We don't know what hidden skills may be lurking here. I couldn't contribute much to the launching of the board as my computer skills are li ited but I'd happily join in organising events if any is ever mooted.
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Post by Flim Flam on Feb 24, 2016 9:28:26 GMT
I like the way the consensus is coming around to having only positive awards for individuals, but maybe some negative awards for venues etc.Great suggestions for categories too.
I personally think we need to keep the balance so that we have at least as many positive awards as negative ones overall. Did anyone mention best front of house staff for instance? Probably. Also, we could vary the categories from year to year, to focus on issues that have been predominant on the board that year.
I wonder if we could expand the understudy award slightly (so we are not copying that existing award) to include 'unsung performers' in general, not just understudies. Could also include swings, people who step into a production at the last minute etc? People who have been long-term in particular show etc. Just give it a bit of extra scope.
And we should definitely have a 'best production in a small venue' award, as it is a strength of this board that people get behind, and spread the word about some of these fringe productions.
As to the awards themselves, the consensus seems to be emerging for 'anniversary awards' early next year so we have plenty of time to gradually thrash out amongst ourselves which categories we are going to have. This could be done by discussion and polls etc
I don't think we would have a problem at all with setting up the online awards. Seems to be lots of enthusiasm here to discuss them.
Bringing the awards into the real world is a lovely idea but a much bigger step. I personally think we should limit the awards to online in at least the first year, see how it goes, and then we can consider an actual meet-up in following years, if the initial idea is successful.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 10:39:17 GMT
What exactly will an award be?
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Post by kathryn on Feb 24, 2016 11:34:54 GMT
Could we do a 'best cheap seats' award? To recognise (and bring some attention to) the theatres where you really can get a perfectly decent view for under £20 in a seat that doesn't require amputation at the knee?
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Post by Snciole on Feb 24, 2016 11:43:12 GMT
I have it from good authority (a friend enjoying the view) that he was present on Saturday. *BIG sigh of relief* I am hoping he just had a deserved day off! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Feb 24, 2016 13:27:05 GMT
What exactly will an award be? They win a Theatreboard Award.... Also known as a TeeBee in the industry  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 13:34:14 GMT
I have visions of "And so in recognition of your achievement we're proud to present you with … crap, I knew we'd forgotten something".
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Post by theatre-turtle on Feb 24, 2016 13:35:56 GMT
Can we still do comedy ones like Best Animal Performer? The dog from Legally Blonde was incredibly well trained |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 15:07:04 GMT
Could we do a 'best cheap seats' award? To recognise (and bring some attention to) the theatres where you really can get a perfectly decent view for under £20 in a seat that doesn't require amputation at the knee? My reservation about this is that the winning theatres would put up the price of the bargain seat as a result! Still nostalgic for those £5 pillar seats at the Comedy Theatre |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 15:18:42 GMT
Can we still do comedy ones like Best Animal Performer? The dog from Legally Blonde was incredibly well trained *gasp* Skilpadde!! That's outrageous! Sheridan Smith is going to hunt you down like a dog!  |
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Post by theatre-turtle on Feb 24, 2016 15:27:08 GMT
The dog from Legally Blonde was incredibly well trained *gasp* Skilpadde!! That's outrageous! Sheridan Smith is going to hunt you down like a dog! Why? Wouldn't she want her on stage dog to be recognised for its talent? |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 15:45:27 GMT
Could we do a 'best cheap seats' award? To recognise (and bring some attention to) the theatres where you really can get a perfectly decent view for under £20 in a seat that doesn't require amputation at the knee? My reservation about this is that the winning theatres would put up the price of the bargain seat as a result! Still nostalgic for those £5 pillar seats at the Comedy Theatre Yep, it would surely be better to be a little coy and say "this theatre offers best value for money in our opinion" rather than "this theatre has some brilliant cheap seats", and I would absolutely 100% insist that we didn't say "THIS seat in THIS row costs THIS much money and is BRILLIANT", 'cos the increased competition for the best value seats would NOT be a positive thing for me. |
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Post by ncbears on Feb 24, 2016 16:34:29 GMT
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Post by kathryn on Feb 24, 2016 17:38:55 GMT
My reservation about this is that the winning theatres would put up the price of the bargain seat as a result! Still nostalgic for those £5 pillar seats at the Comedy Theatre Yep, it would surely be better to be a little coy and say "this theatre offers best value for money in our opinion" rather than "this theatre has some brilliant cheap seats", and I would absolutely 100% insist that we didn't say "THIS seat in THIS row costs THIS much money and is BRILLIANT", 'cos the increased competition for the best value seats would NOT be a positive thing for me. Fair point, I miss those £5 pillar seats too! |
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Post by DebbieDoesDouglas(Hodge) on Feb 24, 2016 21:38:31 GMT
what the world needs - another pointless award ceremony.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 21:47:06 GMT
what the world needs - another pointless award ceremony. Well said! This is exactly my opinion too! One massive problem with most award ceremonies is that the voters have each seen only some of the potential candidates. This issue would apply to any form of Theatre Board Awards. The award winners tell more about the people who voted than about the relative merits of the winners and the unsuccessful nominees and potential candidates. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2016 19:48:38 GMT
I'm loving the Offies online award ceremony on Twitter - maybe a good model for what we could do?
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