(Photo courtesy of the Downtown Frederick Partnership)
If you empower your audience base and ask them to go a little further they won’t see a show at your theater. They will engage it and start to become a part of it. METLab is a small group within the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (a non equity theatre company based in downtown Frederick, MD) that is dedicated to developing new works and engaging spectators that experience them for positive feedback.
Based on the success of this past summer’s “Plays in Progress” festival, which gives playwrights two weeks to develop and hone their work based on audience feedback and rehearsal development, METlab recognizes that Frederick is a perfect location for new play development and ideal for theatre making. If you want to just “see” a show for entertainment you can certainly attain that, but if you want to engage a play, you’ve come to the right place.
“It’s because there’s no competition” or “It’s because they’re isolated” are the usual responses to the exponential growth found at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET). Last year the MET just opened their second space “Stage2” raising $100,000 to fund it. And now observing that the space is constantly booked since its founding earlier this year, it beg’s the question “What are they doing?” or “What are they doing right?”.
“It’s the basic connection between Baltimore and D.C.” John Holly responds. Holly a veteran subscriber since the theater’s founding in 1993 and Frederick native since he was four. Holly is a painter and former gallery owner in downtown Frederick that hosts weekly poetry readings around town. “Frederick is slowly going toward MET. It’s very slow...It’s like we’re still in the 90’s. People come to the MET to see experimentation, If you're familiar with the MET expect the unexpected.” Holly speaks to the wide age gap of theatre goers in Frederick.
Having been seeing theatre and participating in the Arts community for over forty years. He has been able to observe as a spectator to where the town is going. Holly participated in every post-show discussion at Plays in Progress and was amazed at the level of inclusion he felt. “I feel like I’m becoming part of the MET family for the first time.” METlab aims at deepening the bonds between spectator and performer by challenging the audience to critically think about the performance they are engaged in. This is a win-win situation. Not only do you get to create a discourse with your audience base. But you get to educate them without them even knowing it. Theater’s like the MET, who recognize and develop these skills, are able to guide their audience demographic with their own unique vocabulary where the voices of the audience are heard. This is how followings are made.
That is not to say Frederick does not face it’s own challenges as a diverse environment. Frederick has a unique duality to it that creates confusing avenues for theatre. An example is that by day, certain downtown restaurants are family friendly and very upscale, then at night become a dance club with a bouncer checking your I.D. at the door. Businesses that recognize this relationship between the very conservative and liberal seem to be making the best use out of the very blue city in a very red county.
“Frederick is in this little artistic limbo.” Caitlin Joy comments on the duality of the arts in her hometown. Joy has been a company at the MET for 5 years but her relationship exceeds that. She lives six blocks away from the MET. Growing up in Frederick and being a part of the MET her whole life didn’t come to a full realization till she attained her Bachelors in Acting at Towson University. “I lived away for 3 or 4 years and got really excited about all the work going on here, so I came back.” Since graduation Joy has been involved in dozens of productions, among them numerous original works from local playwrights. One of the most attractive qualities of the MET in Frederick for an actor is the security of constant stable work. “I can go and I can hunt for work and I can take what I get and maybe be really lucky, or be here and work with a community of artists who challenge me...and I also get to choose the work so that makes me happy.” For Joy, theatre at the MET is her way into the local community as well. Interacting with the subscribers that are usually local business owners and families, offers a personal connection to her audience.
Frederick is a good model for the benefits of audience engagement. METlab is seeking this season to activate the audience over the course of the entire season with post-show discussions, subscriber interviews, and performing a census to figure out who and where the spectators are coming from. The MET in Frederick is the proper place to activate engagement in an audience for a show, so they don’t have to “see” it, but experience it. The MET has gotten something right. A strong sense of inclusion and engagement within their audience base. The forgotten key to a successful theatre company.
Welcome to METLab in Frederick, the best place for theatre you never heard about. Holly adds, “At METLab I learned to be excited about the different original forms of writing and how changes can be made. It’s like putting this small organism in a pot and stirring it up to see it become a monster, a really cool monster.”
If you empower your audience base and ask them to go a little further they won’t see a show at your theater. They will engage it and start to become a part of it. METLab is a small group within the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (a non equity theatre company based in downtown Frederick, MD) that is dedicated to developing new works and engaging spectators that experience them for positive feedback.
Based on the success of this past summer’s “Plays in Progress” festival, which gives playwrights two weeks to develop and hone their work based on audience feedback and rehearsal development, METlab recognizes that Frederick is a perfect location for new play development and ideal for theatre making. If you want to just “see” a show for entertainment you can certainly attain that, but if you want to engage a play, you’ve come to the right place.
“It’s because there’s no competition” or “It’s because they’re isolated” are the usual responses to the exponential growth found at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET). Last year the MET just opened their second space “Stage2” raising $100,000 to fund it. And now observing that the space is constantly booked since its founding earlier this year, it beg’s the question “What are they doing?” or “What are they doing right?”.
“It’s the basic connection between Baltimore and D.C.” John Holly responds. Holly a veteran subscriber since the theater’s founding in 1993 and Frederick native since he was four. Holly is a painter and former gallery owner in downtown Frederick that hosts weekly poetry readings around town. “Frederick is slowly going toward MET. It’s very slow...It’s like we’re still in the 90’s. People come to the MET to see experimentation, If you're familiar with the MET expect the unexpected.” Holly speaks to the wide age gap of theatre goers in Frederick.
Having been seeing theatre and participating in the Arts community for over forty years. He has been able to observe as a spectator to where the town is going. Holly participated in every post-show discussion at Plays in Progress and was amazed at the level of inclusion he felt. “I feel like I’m becoming part of the MET family for the first time.” METlab aims at deepening the bonds between spectator and performer by challenging the audience to critically think about the performance they are engaged in. This is a win-win situation. Not only do you get to create a discourse with your audience base. But you get to educate them without them even knowing it. Theater’s like the MET, who recognize and develop these skills, are able to guide their audience demographic with their own unique vocabulary where the voices of the audience are heard. This is how followings are made.
That is not to say Frederick does not face it’s own challenges as a diverse environment. Frederick has a unique duality to it that creates confusing avenues for theatre. An example is that by day, certain downtown restaurants are family friendly and very upscale, then at night become a dance club with a bouncer checking your I.D. at the door. Businesses that recognize this relationship between the very conservative and liberal seem to be making the best use out of the very blue city in a very red county.
“Frederick is in this little artistic limbo.” Caitlin Joy comments on the duality of the arts in her hometown. Joy has been a company at the MET for 5 years but her relationship exceeds that. She lives six blocks away from the MET. Growing up in Frederick and being a part of the MET her whole life didn’t come to a full realization till she attained her Bachelors in Acting at Towson University. “I lived away for 3 or 4 years and got really excited about all the work going on here, so I came back.” Since graduation Joy has been involved in dozens of productions, among them numerous original works from local playwrights. One of the most attractive qualities of the MET in Frederick for an actor is the security of constant stable work. “I can go and I can hunt for work and I can take what I get and maybe be really lucky, or be here and work with a community of artists who challenge me...and I also get to choose the work so that makes me happy.” For Joy, theatre at the MET is her way into the local community as well. Interacting with the subscribers that are usually local business owners and families, offers a personal connection to her audience.
Frederick is a good model for the benefits of audience engagement. METlab is seeking this season to activate the audience over the course of the entire season with post-show discussions, subscriber interviews, and performing a census to figure out who and where the spectators are coming from. The MET in Frederick is the proper place to activate engagement in an audience for a show, so they don’t have to “see” it, but experience it. The MET has gotten something right. A strong sense of inclusion and engagement within their audience base. The forgotten key to a successful theatre company.
Welcome to METLab in Frederick, the best place for theatre you never heard about. Holly adds, “At METLab I learned to be excited about the different original forms of writing and how changes can be made. It’s like putting this small organism in a pot and stirring it up to see it become a monster, a really cool monster.”