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30-532: The company grew out of Indian Magique, a street theater group of actors, writers, directors, and producers, some of whom were theater graduates from United States International University . Founded initially in 1972 by Christopher R, a year later Indian Magique became San Diego's most famous street theater. Its original members included Christopher R, John William See, Hugh Monahan, Ralph Steadman, Wayne (Bernard) Baldan, Sally Brown, Frank Muir, Alan Aimes, J. Michael, Francine Lembie, and Sam Woodhouse. Whoopi Goldberg

60-472: A crowd. Street theatre should be distinguished from other more formal outdoor theatrical performances, such as performances in a park or garden, where there is a discrete space set aside (or roped off) and a ticketed audience. In some cases, street theatre performers have to get a licence or specific permission through local or state governments in order to perform. Many performers travel internationally to certain locations of note. Street theatre

90-470: A downtown site increased the pressure on the developers to include a theater in the Horton Plaza project. So a theater space was identified, completely underground below an already-built drugstore, and developed into a performing arts complex with two venues: a 550-seat mainstage theater and a flexible performance space that can accommodate up to 250 seats. The city owns the facility, which is overseen by

120-430: A pre-arranged scenario, looking beautiful or surreal or simply just involving passers by in conversation. They did not seek to trick in a Candid Camera way, but rather invited the audience to pretend along with them. No amount of planning or rehearsal could dictate what would happen. Another example would be Natural Theatre's Pink Suitcase scenario. A number of smartly dressed people carrying bright pink suitcases enter

150-399: A set of streets or buildings. They search for and miss their companions. In their search they get on buses, hail cabs, end up in shop windows, etc. By the time they meet up at a pre-arranged spot with the help of passers-by, perceptions of the area have changed and shopping has ceased for at least a few moments. The humour is universal and this piece has been seen in nearly seventy countries. It

180-575: A situation close to their original context. Whatever the reason for choosing the street, the street is a place with a different set of possibilities than the conventional theatre space. Sue Gill of Welfare State International argues that a street theatre performance is not a lesser form than an indoor performance, nor is it simply taking what you do on stage and placing it outdoors, but a form with an energy and an integrity of its own. Many companies are politically motivated and use street theatre to combine performance with protest. This has occurred through

210-434: A voluntary basis. The nature of this type of performance is temporary, generally lasting only a few hours, and is considered much more accessible and easier to participate in than in a gallery or a museum , as those who might not have ever been to a theatre or museum can participate in interactive street theatre. Some interactive art installations allow visitors to walk in, on, and around them, or allow them to play with

240-438: Is arguably the oldest form of theatre in existence: most mainstream entertainment mediums can be traced back to origins in street performing, including religious passion plays and many other forms. More recently performers who, a hundred years ago, would have made their living working in variety theatres , music halls and in vaudeville , now often perform professionally in the many well-known street performance areas throughout

270-466: Is that they can cause side effects such as cancer , which is false. The public play was placed in the city plazas and also outside of hospitals and clinics where people are possibly going to receive information regarding parent planning and contraceptives. The significance of this play was that it promoted safe sex information that protects against unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases that can be caused by unprotected sex. It educated

300-429: Is usually performed by four or five actors, but has been done with twenty-five. Interactive street theatre is a combination of two separate art forms, street theatre and interactive art . Unlike other interactive art, the presentation of interactive street theatre is outside in a public place and most of the time at festivals . The audience of interactive street theatre consists of passers-by who stop to participate on

330-549: The guerrilla theatre of San Francisco Mime Troupe , The Living Theatre , the carnivalesque parades of Bread and Puppet Theatre , and the work of Ashesh Malla and the Sarwanam Theatre Group of Nepal . A character-based street theatre which developed in the 1960s and 1970s was developed by groups like Lumiere and Son, John Bull Puncture Repair Kit, Exploded Eye and Natural Theatre Company. The performances were unannounced and featured characters who acted out

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360-521: The 1980s a dilapidated old theatre, the Lyceum on F Street in downtown San Diego , was scheduled to be demolished to create the Horton Plaza shopping center. The Rep obtained permission to use the 400-seat theatre as a second performance site until it was torn down. The larger venue gave the company a higher profile and a doubled budget. Also, the company's ability to draw thousands of theatergoers to

390-553: The Los Angeles Theater Festival receiving standing ovations. When the group's head writer John William See left the group in 1974, Indian Magique began relying on outside material. By 1975 they were performing See's one act play Tag for high school assemblies in the greater San Diego area, mentoring theater students at the respective high schools, and performing The Duchess of Malfi, which toured California. In 1976, Sam Woodhouse and D. W. Jacobs established

420-594: The Rep in its first home, the Sixth Avenue Playhouse. Woodhouse and Jacobs remain the company's co-directors, with Woodhouse as artistic director and Jacobs as producing director. In 1980, the company reunited two of the original Indian Magicians when presenting the world premiere of John William See's The Lady Cries Murder , directed by Christopher R. The production was voted the best play of the year by The San Diego Union-Tribune , and its popularity allowed

450-483: The Rep to achieve the status as one of San Diego's premiere theaters. From that point on the San Diego Repertory would present 19 premieres and 12 West Coast premieres of plays such as American Buffalo and K2 . The company's world premieres during this period included Gold! —a production that included Whoopi Goldberg, a founding member of the company. On June 8, 2022, the company announced that it

480-461: The audience about risks, and how to avoid them with safer behaviours they could do to prevent contracting the virus. It also educated the viewers on different, and much safer behaviours to use in order to stop transmitting the virus to others. This awareness could work to increase the knowledge of the virus, and educate the public on methods to decrease the transmutation of the disease. Performance Too Many Requests If you report this error to

510-493: The dropping of a coin in a hat by the audience. The logistics of doing street theatre necessitate simple costumes and props , and often there is little or no amplification of sound, with actors depending on their natural vocal and physical ability. This issue with sound has meant that physical theatre , including dance, mime and slapstick , is a very popular genre in an outdoor setting. The performances need to be highly visible, loud and simple to follow in order to attract

540-469: The loaves of bread for explosives. Other artists consider a paying, theatre-going public to be unrepresentative of the public to whom they are trying to communicate, and performing to 'the man on the street' may be considered a more democratic form of dissemination. Some contemporary street theatre practitioners have extensively studied pre-existing street and popular theatre traditions, such as Carnival , commedia dell'arte etc. and wish to present them in

570-517: The nonprofit Horton Plaza Theatre Foundation. In 1986, the San Diego Repertory Theatre moved into the new Lyceum Theatre and assumed the duty of Resident Manager of the Lyceum complex, which also provides services to other arts and community organizations. The Lyceum Gallery holds art exhibitions in conjunction with the theater that usually run the length of the productions. In a single year, 350-400 performances are presented in

600-485: The object of the installations. Another way interactive theatre is done is that spectators themselves become part of the artwork . There are also types of interactive street theatre where that spectator becomes an active part of the show and works together with the artist to create a magnificent collective art piece. In Peru , interactive street theatre was used to raise awareness of the many misconceptions of family planning and use of contraceptives . The play "Ms. Rumors"

630-427: The public on misinformation such as condoms being uncomfortable, contraceptives causing abortions , and many other misconceptions that were made up due to lack of knowledge on contraceptives and family planning. In South Africa , interactive street theater was used to raise awareness to health causes such as AIDS or HIV and how certain behaviours promote the increase of the virus. Puppet shows were performed in

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660-627: The street as a means of directly confronting or engaging the public. For example, multimedia artist Caeser Pink and his group of performers known as The Imperial Orgy staged a piece titled Our Daily Bread that brought performers onto the streets of the New York's financial district to ceremoniously lay loaves of Wonder Bread along the sidewalks, each with an advertisement from Satan offering to buy people's souls in exchange for material possessions. The performance caused an uproar when police were called out and bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to inspect

690-423: The streets to educate the public of how deadly contracting aids or HIV virus is. The show consisted of the main character having aids and transmitting the disease to others, which ultimately led to the death of the character and the transmission of it to other people as well. Having these performances played in public will raise awareness to the deadly virus, that many people may not have had knowledge of. It educated

720-823: The theaters, with an annual attendance of over 150,000 people. Of these events, two-thirds are co-productions between the Rep and more than 40 community organizations. In 2017 the theater completed a $ 3.9 million renovation of the facility. Street theater Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres , car parks , recreational reserves, college or university campus and street corners. They are especially seen in outdoor spaces where there are large numbers of people. The actors who perform street theatre range from buskers to organised theatre companies or groups that want to experiment with performance spaces, or to promote their mainstream work. It

750-567: The world. Notable performers that began their careers as street theatre performers include Robin Williams , David Bowie , Jewel and Harry Anderson . Street theatre is a way to make traditional theatre accessible for those who may not be able to otherwise attend or afford tickets. The audience typically consists of anyone and everyone who wants to watch and for most performances is free public entertainment. Performance artists with an interest in social activism may choose to stage their work on

780-510: Was a source of providing information to people when there were no sources of providing information like television, radio etc. Nowadays, street play is used to convey a message to the crowd watching it. Street play is considered to be the rawest form of acting, because one does not have a microphone or loud speakers. Sometimes performers are commissioned, especially for street festivals , children's shows or parades , but more often street theatre performers are unpaid or gather some income through

810-599: Was also a founding member of the company and Annette Bening appeared in early productions. Rehearsing in the loft of the old Spreckels Building in San Diego , the troupe initially performed on the weekends in the Zoro Garden 's amphitheater located in Balboa Park. These performances included their original shows Corn Dogs On Parade and the original comedia Peepee's Revenge . Both of these shows were presented at

840-471: Was canceling its remaining productions due to financial difficulties, and that all staff would be laid off by June 19. The company describes its mission as producing "intimate, exotic, provocative theatre." Since moving to the Lyceum it has presented 43 world premieres and 37 mainstage productions by Latino playwrights. The 1998 production of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues was nominated for a Tony Award . In

870-405: Was followed by a forum to discuss any questions the audience had about parent planning, which worked better than private counselling since people would have the support of their peers, and the answers would educate the entire group. The play "Ms. Rumors" focused on the information that is usually misrepresented regarding birth control pills or "the pill". One of the rumours about birth control pills

900-404: Was performed as a means of promoting a much greater understanding of information regarding contraceptives and planned parenthood . The play told the audience the truth about contraceptives through the character of a pharmacist, which in turn contradicted the false claims that the character Ms.Rumors suggested. The play lasted around four months and was around twenty minutes long. The performance

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