WCTNW Abstract

An abstract introduces a reader to the key components of the paper they are about to read. It gives them a sense of the ensuing scholarship and whether it is worthwhile to read further. So I'm going to to work it out live- on the blog, going through each step until I have something worth sharing. Process post! Yay!



1. What is the question of my research and how does it fit into the conversation(s) in my field.
Theater- what is it good for? Theater is a tool in many fields of research and practice. Framework for re-examining communal problems,

2. Gap in the literature- more of a gap in availability. Affordable theater is a percentage of income. I make an average of $30k/year. That is around $83/day. My rent costs me $17/day, my utilities $3, my car $7, my phone and internet $3. A grocery budget of $300/month gives me $10 a day of food expenses that I pay out to Costco and Safeway. All told, this leaves me with $43/day to spend on non-survival items such as clothing, animal care, gas, yarn, healthcare, taxes and everything I haven't bothered to track. So in reality, I have more like $20/day that I should probably be putting into savings. Theater tickets at Tacoma Little Theater are $12-25. Tickets at BCPA vary wildly- $10-$15 for a childrens show up to hundreds of dollars for a broadway musical or popular band. Tacoma Musical Playhouse seats adult for $29/person. Lakewood Playhouse- $25/adult. Dukesbay- $30/ticket.
Of these ticket prices, only TLT offers ticket prices consistently inside my daily budget (the musicals are the $25 ticket- rights for musicals can be hundreds of dollars per performance).

Some people would argue that theater is a treat, that it shouldn't be a daily allowance item, like food and rent. That if my entertainment budget was $200/month ($7/day), I could see 7-8 shows at Lakewood or TMP. That's a lot of theater. So the question becomes, do we want theater to be a luxury or a daily choice? With the different ways that people categorize their entertainment expenses and what they are willing to spend those funds on, affordability is a shifting idea. For the sake of ease, let's just place it withing the daily budget- under $20/day.

Now we consider the theater experience as a whole, with parking, dinner, drinks, and babysitting. I can take the bus ($2), eat fast food ($5) and not have kids ($). That still leaves me only $13 to spend on the actual ticket. What about folks who pay the neighbor kid a decent wage ($25), drive because they are too far away to bus ($10) and want a pre-show cocktail ($8) and meal ($15)? $58, over 1/4 the $200 monthly entertainment allotment, not including a ticket. For two people living on 30k/year, ($58 x 2) + (25 x 2) one show uses more than half of the month's $200 entertainment budget at $133. It had better be a damn good show.

I want to make theater that I consider affordable. Most people in Tacoma make less than I do. If I can't afford to see theater, there is a good chance that they can't either.

There is other stuff, but that's another post. I am really getting sidelined from the original intent which was create an abstract. Hmmm.....

Tacoma has less theater per capita than the neighboring cities of Seattle and Olympia. Tacoma is a young, urban environment with limited disposable income compared to the software developers in Seattle and the government workers in Olympia. Of the community theater produced in Tacoma, only a small percent of scripts were written after 1970 or cost under $25 per adult ticket. There is a disparity between the audience that exists in Tacoma and the theater that is created to serve that audience. Working Class Theater NW produces modern, affordable theater that speaks to the issues of Tacoma's modern working class citizens. Theater requires risk, but that risk should be artistic, not financial. WCTNW creates a safe space for artists and audiences in Tacoma to explore communal problems through the ancient art of live storytelling.