The Plays the Thing, And it is Vibrating

Ah, love.  What better way to celebrate Groundhog Day than seeing my beloved?  Unfortunately, yours truly is in a long-distance relationship.  Fortunately, he lives in the funnest of fun towns, San Francisco!  Unfortunately, SF is one of the most expensive cities in the USA.  What’s a girl to do?  Love or Money?

Both, sassy ladies!

To celebrate my trip this past weekend, my manfriend bought us tickets to see the newest play by one of my favorite playwrights, Sarah Ruhl, at Berkeley Repertory.  In case you haven’t visited Berkeley, CA, or aren’t the theater kind, Berkeley Rep is one of the premier regional theaters in the country.  It’s where brave artists go to workshop new materials which are then able to grow and move to Broadway and all across the world.  In this case, the play we saw was one every woman should see: “In the Next Room (or  the vibrator play).” That’s right, this play was about vibrators.

Victorian-era vibrators, to be exact!  In a time when electricity was a novelty, and sexuality a disease hysterical women caught, vibrators were used as a medicinal tool to release, by way of doctor-administered “paroxysms,” the pent-up fluids that could sicken a woman.  Okay, so obviously, this play isn’t just a historical diagramming of vibrators.  It was a comedic, and genuinely touching exploration of four women’s sexual awakenings in a time when physicality itself was unnatural.

You might be asking yourselves right now, “What does this have to do with anything?”  Because.  Because, this play was fantastic, and beautifully performed, and honest.  Because, the economy sucks.  Because, the first budgets to ever be cut are funds for the arts.  Because, we got these tickets cheap!  Because, no matter how low on funds we get, everyone needs some entertainment…Especially when it’s stimulating!  (Haha!  Get it?)

After visiting Berkeley Rep, I was reminded what a boon to the community this company is.  They supply jobs to not only the actors, directors, writers, lighting and sound designers, stage managers, costumers, dramaturgs, casting directors, prop masters, stage crew, technical directors, master electricians, and all of their assistants, but also to the local florists who provide the flowers for the lobby, the bakeries who supply the food for the concessions, the company administrators, the ushers, the box office attendants, the various interns, and to the education department.  In exchange for my $20, I sat in a beautiful theater for 2 ½ hours and got to watch seven living and breathing artists pour out their hearts in front of me, and teach me a good lesson about my own hard-won sexual ownership I so take for granted today.  And, so this post today is an encouragement to support your local arts scene.  And how to do it on the cheap!

Why, you might ask?  Why should I spend $13 dollars more on a theater ticket, when I can get movie tickets for my local Regal theater for $7 at Costco (www.costco.com) or go catch a viewing of “Doubt” at my neighborhood AMC with $8.50 tickets from my AAA store?  (www.aaa.com)  Smart thinking, ladies!  Why, indeed?  Well, for the previously mentioned reasons that illuminate how your hard-earned $20 supports so many dedicated people.

“Why else?!” you might demand.  Well, because it’s easier and cheaper than you might think to get involved with great theater close to home.

You don’t need to live in Times Square to enjoy the theater.  (Although you can skip to the bottom of this article for tips if you do!)  Check out the website for the League of Resident Theatres to see what theater companies are located near you.  If you’ve got the extra funds, you can always subscribe.  You pay an annual fee all at once, but you get cheaper tickets, the best seats, and tons of other great incentives (like cocktails with the stars, backstage tours, parties with the administration, and cool talkback sessions.)  Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota invites their subscribers to be their very first audiences for their new shows as they rehearse, how cool is that?  However, subscriptions aren’t all theater companies have to offer.  Every theater has discount programs to pull in various audience demographics.  Ladies’ nights, Student Nights, Seniors matinees, Singles Nights, or discounted rates for preview performances (the first week of performances before the big opening night). All of these have lower price tags.  For instance, the Alley Theatre in Houston offers a Pay-What-You-Can Night: show up to the box office the day of, and pay as little as $10 each for two tickets for you and your favorite date!  The Pittsburgh Public Theater has this cool discount program called Mix @ Six, with complimentary hors d’oeuvres, alcohol, Starbucks tastings, and tickets to the show, all for $20!  Some theaters even have free events to garner audience feedback, like at the Wilma in Philadelphia, who generate excitement for their upcoming seasons with a program called Season Teasers.  They do FREE readings with professional actors for plays they’re considering doing in the upcoming year.   Finally, if you’ve got no funds to part with at all, check out your local theaters policies for ushers.  Here’s the general deal: wear a sexy black outfit, show up an hour before curtain, hand some people some programs, watch the show.  FREE.

Fine.  So you’re perusing the theater website, and you don’t like any of their deals.  Fine.  And you don’t want to wear your sexy black dress and watch the show FREE.  Fine!  There are still a multitude of options!  Organize a group of friends, contact the theater, and get a discount rate.  You’re doing all the work for them!  And, while you’ve got them on the phone, ask them to supply a room post-show, bring some bottles of cheap champagne and have a party to celebrate your local theater!  If that’s too much trouble, check what restaurants they usually partner with (BUDGET TIP: check the playbill for ads because they’ll undoubtedly have coupons within them, as well as discounts for neighborhood shops and businesses.)  Fine!  You hate planning ahead.  So rush!  That’s right, every theater has “rush” policies: generally, if you show up anywhere from 1/2 hour to 2 hours before curtain, tickets will sell heavily discounted tickets.  Make sure you check the theater’s website, every one is different…

Look, you don’t have to live in one of the five boroughs to get high-quality theatrical experiences, and you don’t have to take a plane to Broadway every time you have the urge to see a production of “Wicked.”  (Check the tour listings on Broadway-know-it-all site Playbill.com for listings of the national tours of all your favorite shows.)  If you do live next door to the Great White Way, however, or you’re planning on visiting the Big Apple, make sure you take advantage of TKTS in Times Square and the South Street Seaport OR check out all the info on rush times at www.talkinbroadway.com.  It is entirely possible to go see a different Broadway show every night for under $30.  I promise.

And, FYI, just so there’s no confusion, there’s nothing wrong with going to the movies!  I love the movies!  (I highly recommend Slumdog Millionaire.)  But there are so many fantastic regional theaters operating all over the country who depend on the support of their local audiences.  So as long as we’re talking about spending a little moolah on entertainment, why not spread the wealth within your community and see some fabulous live theater?  You don’t have to go see plays about vibrators (although it was really good, I’m teeeeeelling you) but the experience will be worth it, whatever you see.  And your community will thank you for it.  See you in the audience…

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