Rough Theater

The idea of rough theater relates to me as a filmmaker because I also happen to be a double major in Theatre Tech and Production. So, I've always been a believer that film strives when it uses aspects of theater or incorporates theatricality into its storytelling. Specifically rough theater relates to my filmmaking so far because when you're a college students all your films become low budget and you have to rely on what you can get. So, using things like cardboard for a set makes the film campy in a fun way and also saves a lot of money for people who just want to make films for fun and are not aiming for the next Citizen Kane. As a theatre student however, I would say that all theater has a roughiness that the article describes. Broadway doesn't seem like it, but I've seen a moustache fall off someone's face mid show during a broadway musical (luckily it was Spamalot so they laughed it off quite well). All theatre has techies running around backstage, sweating and stressing as they make the fly system work, keep the actors on point, move the set around, etc. Theater is always rough, the trick is just making it look good when there is an audience watching. But, it is fun not to aim for perfection and make a joke out of the roughiness that can't be avoided on a budget. Thats been the fun of this class so far, improvisation and quick deadlines gives our projects a spontaneity they wouldn't have achieved otherwise. So, rough theater to me is a fun campy form of art I would like to continue in my free time.