7.02.2007

fireside chats

We've been hosting informal chats with audience members following each performance of ANNA BELLA EEMA. In an effort to get away from the stuffy talk back, we're breaking out the bottles of wine, asking questions of the audience as much (if not more) than answering questions from them, and the result has been some really fascinating and engaging discussions.

This production is a great example of the kind of theater that is at the heart of Crowded Fire. We love that everyone is walking away from the show with a slightly different take on it. We love that people are so stimulated by the show, that they are eager to deconstruct the text, often debating one another and asking more and more questions.

And folks are continuing the conversation when they go home. We've got people yelping about it, emailing us directly, and linking to their blogs. Don't get me wrong, we've basked in the critical praise that ANNA BELLA EEMA has received thus far, but hearing from you directly has been the real pleasure. This is what theatre is all about to us.

We call our talk backs "fireside chats." How appropriate, then, to hear John S. in his review say "theater and religious ritual both started in the same place - as stories told around a campfire somewhere. Now we think of them as being two different experiences, but in plays like Anna Bella Eema it is possible to return to the primal campfire and experience them together again."

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