We just saw blind.ness tonight (har har) and while I wouldn't say it was good, it was definitely well done. I heard of the show through a friend, and became interested mainly because the show claimed to integrate 'multi-media' elements with the performance. That's something we hope to do at CityTech, so I thought I'd check it out and see what other people in the field were doing with all of this new-fangled technology these days.

The show made use of effects ranging from a bank of video screens to processing and manipulating the voices of the actors to simple "object tied to string" tricks, and they were all well-executed. None of the effects seemed particularly interactive, though. Even though they were well-done, technologically the show was not much different from any other show using a modern sound system or video playback.

The theater itself was another matter entirely. I am a technical director by training, so when I go to see a play I notice things about the venue and the technology. When I walked into the theater, alarm bells started going off in my head.

First, the seating bank was assembled from modular components and the seats didn't all match - a dead giveaway that the structure warranted further inspection. The whole thing looked thrown together at the last minute. The stairs were too steep, wobbly, and narrow. The whole bank of seats would wiggle if a single person adjusted their position in their chair. Where we sat, there was a gap between the platforms and the wall with no railing. Scrap materials were dumped unceremoniously under the seats, and the seating bank was blocking the only visible fire extinguisher in the room. The room had only one accessible fire exit. The other fire exit was blocked by the scenery, but the exit sign was still visible. In the event of an emergency, a patron attempting to find their way out would certainly trip and fall trying to get to follow that exit sign. The one railing on the seating bank was unpainted and looked like a strong breeze would topple it.

Disgraceful.

There is room for reasonable people to disagree about the artistic merits of the piece, but such blatant disregard for the comfort, safety and general well-being of the audience should not be tolerated. The audience areas should be the FIRST priority of the producing organization, not the last.