UNDERGROUND THEATER COMES TO BATON ROUGE
Renegade Shakespeare Company's Twelfth Night



For years now in both Austin and Houston, there have been numerous theater companies that I like to call "underground." They're not professional companies like the Alley in Houston, but they're not really community theater groups, either. Underground companies, like community theater groups, generally are unpaid, performing because they love it. However, underground theater is far more concerned with theater-as-art. That is, they typically deal with material that is more challenging and edgy, for both performers and audiences, than the typical murder mystery or Rodgers and Hammerstein fare one finds in a community "little theater." Furthermore, underground theater seems to have less money than the community theater, so venues are typically non-standard. I've performed, myself, in bars, above bars, in dilapidated warehouses, an old movie theater, and a junkyard/artist's commune. I'm sure you get the idea. The flexibility of performance space makes underground theater less stuffy, more fun--generally, audiences can drink and smoke during underground theater performances. It really is, when done well, theater for the common man.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the underground theater is quite likely the future of the theater as an institution, if there is any future at all for the four thousand year old art form.

That's why I'm so happy to report that Baton Rouge now has a new underground company. Actually, as far as I can tell, it's the only underground company in town. A great big round of applause for the Renegade Shakespeare Company. From their website:

We Do What We Want

Renegade Shakespeare Company is a new performing arts group formed in spring 2005 whose mission is to develop a core of young professional actors who work as a family to produce quality live productions. These productions are driven by quality of the performances, not spectacle or expense. We strive to promote an understanding and love of Shakespeare by training company actors, area high school students, and other community members in the techniques and traditions of Shakespearean performance. Through productions and workshops we aim to provide area performers and audiences with more opportunities for participation in professionally organized and run theatrical performances.

See? Theater for the common man. Kickass.

The great thing is that they live up to their mission statement. The production of Twelfth Night I saw earlier this evening was pretty darned good. Of course, it was in a bar, so I had a couple of beers while I watched--that's always pleasing to an audience, and really much more Shakespearean than what one ordinarily encounters in theaters. But it's not just the beers: these guys are good. Well, they're all undergraduate theater students at LSU, so they'd better be, at the very least, okay. But they were much better than that. They approached the show very simply, virtually no set, no pre-recorded sound effects or music, just a few lights, a small platform as stage and some costumes. Simplicity was also the the rule of thumb when it came to the actors' performances: they didn't try to force anything; they just let the text do all the work, and I was rewarded with a very clear and understandable telling of the story. Furthermore, their mastery of language was impressive. I'm not terribly familiar with Twelfth Night but thanks to the actors, the vast majority of the poetry had its intended impact.

The show closed tonight, but the Renegades have more in store: they're planning to do a show a month with Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile in June, the Jesus-rock musical Godspell in July, and back to Shakespeare with Romeo and Juliet in August. I hope they can keep up the pace: the biggest impediment to underground theater is burnout. Remember, there's no money in this, so everybody generally has to have a day job in order to survive--it's pretty easy to get tired of all the insanity. I've seen at least a couple of great companies die because of overwork. I also fear that the company, composed of students, will eventually die when their key members graduate and move on with their lives. Here's hoping they can get something of a fraternity approach going: recruit and haze new freshmen each year, and groom them to replace outgoing senior members when the time comes.

We'll see where this leads.

For now, however, things are pretty cool. Ideally, this new company has thrown down a gauntlet at the entire community. They're setting a new artistic standard in town, and, if successful, could inspire others to take their lead. Hell, the run-of-the-mill community theaters in Austin were forced to improve as the underground theater scene arose there in the late 80s. The same thing could happen here, if Baton Rouge is lucky. We'll see what happens.


Renegade Shakespeare Company as the Velvet Underground

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$