In the last few weeks many people have been posting comments on this blog about our current production of When She Danced, and I wanted to chime in with my thanks for sharing your thoughts.
It means so much to our entire company to hear feedback about our productions, even when it sometimes isn’t all praise. With every production our primary goal is to ignite some thought and dialogue, and we hope to encourage and foster that dialogue through a number of different avenues — by having one Company member or staff member present in our lobby at every performance to greet and talk with you; by hosting numerous post-show discussions and a Sunday Scholar Series for every production; through this blog; and also by sharing the contact info for me and other staff on our Web site and in various other places.
All of this is to underscore our eagerness to hear your thoughts and to chat about TimeLine’s work. Because this theatre and our productions cannot exist without you.
And through all of those avenues, we listen. And genuinely appreciate your feedback. Reading some of the comments posted here about When She Danced, it’s quite the mixed bag, ranging from the show being someone’s favorite TimeLine play ever to this being others’ least favorite.
The thing that I appreciate the most is the extent to which so many posts (or emails, or phone calls or conversations) are so thoughtful and thorough. That very fact gets me excited and makes me eager to engage in more discussion. As with all of our productions I usually get more than an earful of responses that often contradict one another, and we’re wise enough to not let the praising comments drown out the negative ones. I am always saddened to hear that parts (or all) of any play don’t connect with some people, and while I regularly (and happily) receive many positive comments about each show, I also acknowledge that there are always — always — very different opinions, even about our biggest “hit” shows. I assure you that all of those opinions are considered and weighed by not only me but also by our team of Company members who work together to select our programming.
So I really just wanted to say, once again, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Thanks for caring so much about TimeLine’s work and giving and participating in what that work is. It means the world to us. And we’re always all ears to what you’ve got to say.
On behalf of all of my fellow Company members, we are deeply grateful for and humbled by your support of TimeLine – both on a show-by-show basis and also in our larger body of work. We’re blessed to get to share four different stories with you every year, and I look forward to seeing you back here for the rest of our season to continue an ongoing dialogue.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Comments (0)
Merrill Hoyt
Sets and acting were, as usual, exceptional.. Amazing that your usual is exceptional. The play did not appear to me to be a play. It was a day in the life of a rather odd historical figure who had odd friends, few who spoke a common language. For reasons I cannot fathom, the performance held my attention, though I continue to not perceive it as a play.
Merrill