Followspot - The Road Ahead

August 10, 2007

Thanks for the recent comments on out of town coverage, Followspot’s mission etc.

Rest assured Followspot is dedicated to Portland theatre. However, I do believe occasional content on theatre happening elsewhere in the country and world also has a place here, especially if there are Portland contacts involved.

Boundaries are fluid, porous, ever changing. The attempt to define “Portland” narrowly is of course impossible. Maybe Portland-centric is a better approach. The goal is to focus locally but also be inclusive. If there is an amazing show in Wagontire and I can cover it, will I? Yes. To keep on top of our game we must stay in the larger state, regional, national loops.

Also remember the flip side. What would we say if a blog dedicated to theatre in New York, or Chicago, or anywhere posted something on Portland because the blogger saw a show here? Would we like that? Absolutely. If we keep the conversation interesting, people will join in – wherever they are. If it isn’t interesting, no matter how pure in focus, no one will read. Quality of material is more important than geographic location. An interesting piece on theatre somewhere else may attract a reader from that area, and then they learn about Portland while reading. And the next time they come here…

I do agree with the comment that Followspot belongs to the readers and has “an obligation to fulfill its purpose: a focus on the Portland theatre scene.” A forum like this is needed, especially as the conventional media review fewer shows all the time.

But I do not see it as “sad” that this blog has been called on to plug the gap. Rather, it’s the perfect grass roots outlet we need to discuss what is happening in Portland. With a blog, we can provide a greater variety of interviews, reviews, and other pieces on theatre than any of the traditional media.

This isn’t a dark conspiracy to suppress Portland theatre; it’s simply the fact that exhaustive theatre coverage doesn’t work in most publications’ business model, and we shouldn’t sit around expecting that to change any time soon. But the good news is we can create what we want using things like blogs. In the past Followspot has partnered with print media to share reviews, and the same could happen again in future. It’s also possible that a thriving Followspot could help convince larger media that there IS a future in covering theatre.

I do hope to expand Followspot’s coverage. Ideally, I would like to be able to carry reviews of every show anywhere in the greater Portland area – yes, that means Milwaukie, Sandy, Gresham, Vancouver, Wilsonville, etc. Anywhere there’s theatre. If I could also cover shows in Astoria, Ashland, Eugene, etc., would I? Of course.

But to expand coverage, I need to get more people involved. See the previous post on this. I’d like to move toward a group of reviewers and contributors, vs. just one. Please consider participating if this is important to you.

In the meantime remember that, as pointed out, this is just a blog, and as a purely volunteer activity there is only so much time any one of us can invest in it. Shows will get missed, mistakes will be made etc. But we can continue to build the conversation and improve.

See you in September!