Last weekend I had the fortune to see a very well done live version of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog here in San Diego. The show was produced by a small company called Chinese Pirate Production which I am led to understand was created for this very project. I always feel that when a group of people get together and create a theater troupe for the sole purpose of doing a show it usually means they are passionate and I’m in for something well done. I was not wrong with this version of Dr. Horrible. Just by watching it, you could tell that the cast and crew put a lot of themselves into it, even going so far to hire a wonderful music director (Brian Hammond, who is an amazing MD) to re-orchestrate some of the parts to make them fuller and richer. Apparently Zack Whedon saw the show and loved it so much he allowed them to record it so Mutant Enemy could have a copy.
This, however, is not a review on this production. If you want to read one, my good friend Karina has written one for PixelatedGeek.com which can be found here.
While I was watching this show, it dawned on me that there seemed to be a lack of “Geek Theater.” Geek culture seems to have a home in almost every medium. I mean, how many movies/books/TV shows are celebrated with fan clubs and at the various conventions throughout the year? For all of these gems of pop culture, there seems to be little to no entries of “geekdom” in the world of theater.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog seems to be one of the exceptions and even that is relatively new to the genre. What’s even more interesting about the Whedon brain child is that it was not written for the theater in the first place. From what I understand, the writers of the show were getting requests from small theater troupes trying to get the rights to perform the show. They quietly gave in and Dr. Horrible was given a life onstage. If I had to guess (especially with the request to film), the production in San Diego was probably one of the best attempts at this show thus far, to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes the “licensed” version of the show. The point I’m trying to make is this show, which was ripe for a stage adaptation, wasn’t meant to be on stage in the first place.
It seems to be a given that if you can tap into the geek fan base, we can be passionate and spend money in droves on the things we like (See the Twihards outside Hall H on TUESDAY night or the millions of versions of Star Wars). In this world of lowered grants and smaller audiences, theaters across the country are dying to get some cash flow. It seems like a no brainer that theater that appeals to all of us would be coming out of the woodwork, if only to capture the dollars which are at play here.
So why is there no theater of the geek?
Off the top of my head I can only think of two shows which might appeal to a geek audience. Once is the aforementioned Dr. Horrible and the other is the Rocky Horror Show. The Rocky Horror Show, unlike the movie version, is based on a satire of 1950′s B Sci-Fi movies so, if done correctly, there is a huge opportunity for nerdity to appear. However, no one would ever consider these to be “deep” shows. Their appeal comes in the form of satire and comedy about themes which we appreciate (i.e. the underachiever supervillian). The question is then posed: Where are the deeper theatrical themes which appeal to this audience.
It’s not like we are strangers to multi-leveled stories with rich characters. Anyone who reads A Song of Ice and Fire or has seen The Dark Knight can attest to the thought and deepness which is placed into these stories. So why has that not translated to theater?
If I had to guess, theater is usually the story of the mundane. Plays are looks at people’s hopes and fears on a small everyday scale. While that makes for some powerful moments on stage, the geek culture tends to like their stories larger than life. Most of us would rather see the stakes being the fate of the world instead of the fate of one man’s life. While both are important, theater is smaller while movies and TV allow for “bigger” stories.
So perhaps there really is no way to get a true “Theater of the Geek.” Maybe the stories we like as a culture need to be bigger than what we can achieve on a small stage. However, theater is constantly changing. I have no doubt that somehow; someway we will get a good marriage between the two.
