Lobby Design and Woolly’s “Total Audience Experience”

If you’ve heard Woolly staff members talking about “Connectivity” recently, you might have asked yourself hm, what’s that? Connectivity is a department of our theatre that bridges the traditionally pretty separate “marketing,” “development,” and “artistic” sides of the theatre, attempting to connect to new audiences, build relationships, create linkages between Woolly and our community, and enrich and enliven the theatergoing experience. Connectivity works cross-departmentally and collaboratively on all these goals… particularly the last one. You may have noticed this year that we experimented with unique lobby designs that match the artistic themes of our productions, such as with the “Apple Orchard” for The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. Recently I spoke with our Connectivity Director Rachel Grossman who gives us some insight into the lobby design for our current production of Bootycandy:

Brooke Miller: How did the idea of lobby designs for our shows come about? How does it fit in with Connectivity programming?

Rachel Grossman: One of the four areas of focus for the Connectivity Department is what we call “total audience experience.” This is, of course, an incredibly collaborative process that all grows from the play we’re working on, the playwright’s intent, the director’s vision for the play in production, and the audiences’ reaction to the play. The Marketing and Communications staff, Literary staff, and Connectivity, in consultation with the design team and Claque members develop a vision for the playbill, lobby, and programming (discussions or special events) that draws audiences into the world of the play and then expands it to overlap venn diagram-like with “the real world.” Connectivity ends up carrying the vision of the lobby forward with heavy collaboration from the Props Department and front of house.

BM: Where did the idea for live & leave your label and the sexual euphemism alphabet come from?

RG: Both ideas were hatched in a brainstorm session we had with the entire Woolly staff after reading the first completed draft of Bootycandy in December 2010. Multiple staff members came up with variations on these ideas, which were then brought forward to the “Bootycandy Working Group” (a committee of staff, board, and Claque members as well as a few general community members interested in the show’s subject matter) who refined the ideas slightly. But the real shaping of both came from a meeting between me, Max Freedman, Connectivity Assistant, and Timmy Metzner, Box Office Manager. Timmy had worked with many different graphic socio-metric tools in college and was instrumental in shaping the final products.

BM: How do the themes of the lobby design tie into the themes present in Bootycandy? What did Robert O’Hara have to say about them?

RG: The lobby was meant to engage audiences right away in acts that ask them to publicly make choices about the language they use to identify or reveal and conceal. Bootycandy explores the dynamics around the language we use to label ourselves and others, particularly in relation to sex, sexuality, and race.  Robert O’Hara was brought into the conversation early in the conception process for both the labels and the alphabet, and strongly supported both. I then connected with him and the cast and crew to brainstorm the actual words we would but on the labels. I would say one-third to one-half of them came from that group. It was hilarious to watch Robert and the design team (let alone the Woolly staff) walk around the theatre during preview week with labels on themselves.

BM: How does the lobby design add to the play-going experience? Have we gotten any feedback from audience members about it?

RG: We are definitely seeing the lobby more as the truly transitional space it is—moving from the “real world” on the street into the world of the play in the theatre. My hope long-term is that part of the excitement of coming to Woolly is linked to how we break expectations for the entire theatre-going experience for every production. The experience of coming to Woolly is just as quirky, unexpected, and, dare I say “convention defying” as our productions are. Maybe this would then change the way theatre-going works in the country? Lofty goal…

We are just starting to get direct feedback via email and some of our surveying about the lobby. One of our first responses over email included: “Kudos… on making a very fun lobby experience! I found the whole labeling process to be interesting because what was being labeled (your self-definition, your identity within the context of the audience, etc.) was left slightly ambiguous. Typically I would not label myself as “gay,” as I don’t feel that’s what defines me. But in the context of the evening, I would say that I had a completely different experience with the show than a straight male and that that was significant. It was a fun activity that has kept me thinking.”

Bootycandy was the first time thus far that the pre-show or lobby experience has been incorporated into reviews (See: BYT). Yeah, I think that’s correct.

BM: Any ideas/thoughts for the future?

RG: In many ways we are in a perpetual state of experimentation at Woolly. Certainly with our plays and productions…. And so logically with everything else. I am looking forward to our audience being excited to attend Woolly because the entire experience, from their first point of contact with us or at least from when they walk through the front doors, is provocative and playful, allowing them to connect with the work and even one another.

~ Brooke Miller, Press and Digital Content Manager