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Culture, Production and Creativity

Professor Lusa Santos

Bernardo G. Beja

15th of May, 2016

Free Entry: National Theatre D. Maria II moving towards the people

Abstract: The National Theatre of Portugal, D. Maria II, is a theatre with a hundred and seventy
years of existence. Recently, the theatre received a new artistic director that organized, as the
rentre of the season an event called Free Entry. All its activities, which took place over the
11th, 12th and 13th of September 2015, were of free attendance and consisted in several theatre
plays, staged readings, a theatre book fair, concerts and DJs outdoors, an homage, etc. This
paper aims to analyze critically this event, comparing it to a similar event called "Being home"
that took place in the Municipal Theatre of Lisbon So Luiz, in January 2016. The theories used
will be "Analysis of Culture" and "Culture is Ordinary" by Raymond Williams, an interview
with the former artistic director of the National Theatre of Ireland, Abbey, in Dublin, Patrick
Mason and Porter's Competitive Strategies.

Key-words: Theatre; Culture is Ordinary; Analysis of Culture; Artistic Direction; Competitive

Strategies; National Theatre; D. Maria II; So Luiz;
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In September 2015 the National Theatre of Portugal, D. Maria II, held a three days' event during
which it proposed an eclectic programme to anyone and everyone who was interested in
attending it. The event was called Free Entry and, throughout these three days, the theatre
premiered four theatre plays, that would be on stage later that season, a theatre book fair,
readings of theatre plays outdoors, an homage to the Portuguese actress Eunice Munz, several
short plays in traditional old shops in Lisbon's downtown, concerts and DJs outdoors, etc. All
the theatre and its surroundings received thousands of people and all attendance was free; for
indoor shows the tickets were subject to prior purchase (two per person per day) or reservation.

(Photo by: Teatro Nacional D. Maria II)

In the end of 2014 the National Theatre D. Maria II received a new artistic director called Tiago
Rodrigues who is an actor, theatre director, producer and playwright. During the rest of the
season of 2014/2015 he had to stick to the programme that the former artistic director had
planned. However, Free Entry was the event of the rentre of the season of 2015/2016 during
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which Tiago was able to put foward his decisions as an artistic director. On top of that, this event
was also used to present D. Maria II's new strategy and rebranding.

(Photo by: Teatro Nacional D. Maria II)

Regarding Porter's Generic Competitive Strategies and considering that D. Maria II doesn't
compete in prices with the other theaters and competes in a broad market scope (the supply of
theatre is a lot), the company is to follow a differentiation strategy, if it is to succeed in business.
(cf. Tanwar, 2013) Being art commonly accepted as neither a product not a service the
differentiation strategy has to be based on the communication. A new logo was created, with
much more visual impact, the Facebook page started to be frequently updated, all the posters
and flyers became of the same type (recognizable as being from D. Maria II), the physical
programme was changed to a smaller one and without colored images.

Analyzing these changes, it is easily recognizable that D. Maria II extended its target. A theatre
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that is known for being very elitist started to directly communicate with a broader spectrum of
interested people.

(Photo by: Teatro Nacional D. Maria II)

This event made clear the theatre's new mission:

Free Entry is the celebration of a new artistic project at the D. Maria II. It's not called Free
Entry just because the tickets are free for a weekend. It has its name because the gesture of
entering a national theatre is a true gesture of freedom. (Teatro D. Maria II, 2015)

Raymond Williams wrote a paper called "Culture is Ordinary" in which he states that "culture
is ordinary, in every society and in every mind." (Williams, 1958: 83) "Every human society
has its own shape, its own purpose, its own meanings. Every human society expresses these, in
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institutions, and in arts and learning." (Ibidem)

From his point of view culture is not an elitist activity that is safeguarded by a restrict group of
people who believe themselves to be cultivated. "What kind of life can it be, I wonder, to
produce this extraordinary fussiness, this extraordinary decision to call certain things culture
and then separate them, as with a park wall, from ordinary people and ordinary work?" (Id.,
ibid., p.84)

(Photo by: Teatro Nacional D. Maria II)

What the National Theatre D. Maria II did with this event was to make it clear, not only by
stating but also by showing, that the theatre was available for anyone who wanted to engage in
its activities, without discrimination. As an example, the stage readings were made in So
Domingos' square, which is a very multicultural venue next to the theatre. These readings were
able to attract not only a lot of young people but also different passers that stick around that
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place. The concerts at night were also given from the balcony of the theatre that is open towards
this square and they were a huge success - completely full. To top that I must admit I was
personally happy to see homeless people, who live near the theatre, attend indoor shows, which
were always completely full.

This is not to say that a National Theatre is to live out of the box-office and should become
commercial in order to have more audience; that is not what happened/is happening. The former
artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, National Theatre of Ireland gave an interview interesting
to be analyzed at this point of the situation.

"MF: To take practical instance of when management concerns might impact, what factors
govern selection of productions?

PM: This is very interesting because this theatre, by definition as a national theatre and
from its tradition, is art-led: in other words, it holds to be foremost the integrity of the
artists creation and it is not reactive in the consumerist sense. It doesnt reply to the market.
It seeks to lead the market. It never wanted to be a commercial theatre and it was established
for clear artistic ends. (...) We dont have enough subsidy to be entirely free of the box
office. (...) So we try to balance the programme by doing our new work and pushing the
boat out while we also do plays which are proven, which we know can attract audiences.
(...)

MF: So balance is a major concern?

PM: Yes. (...) And yet clearly there are new writers, new talent which must be brought to
the fore. There are also plays which are not going to be commercial but which are of
enormous artistic importance - Chekhov, Ibsen, Shakespeare. These have to be part of the
repertoire: it is part of our remit as the National Theatre. Those are our main guiding lights
in programme selection. Now we also have a responsibility to stay in business - one is
picking ones best way between all sorts of things. (...) We are here to raise a voice to say
there are alternatives; there is another way of looking at things which is not reductive,
which is not the hard materialist way. I am talking about the life of imagination, the
aesthetic, emotional and psychic life of artists and audiences. The National Theatre is here
to engage with and nourish that need. (...)" (Firzgibbon, 1997, Pp. 55-56)

The National Theatre offers a public service as it is an entity of the state. Besides that, it has an
educational duty attached to its nature. Both characteristics are evident through their pricing
policy with several concessions, outreach programme, connection with amateur and newborn
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theatres, archive, book editing, etc. However, as the Abbey Theatre, it has the responsibility to
stay in business. Its new mission manifests the theatre's will to have an active participant
audience. This communication strategy allows it to diverse its plays, always commonly sharing
the new clear identity of the theatre, while maintaining a loyal audience that it is now gaining.
This way the theatre is not only inviting everyone to join in its activities, as it wishes the
engagement of the community, but also, intelligently, managing its way to have spectators,
while offering things that are not commercial.

(Photo by: Teatro Nacional D. Maria II)

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The Municipal Theatre of Lisbon, So Luiz, held a similar event to Free Entry on the weekend
of the 30th and 31st of January entitled Being home (Free translation). Being home consisted in
opening So Luiz for two days while presenting a programme full of activities. Its activities
ranged from theatre and dance shows, to performances, visits to the theatre and talks and
conferences.

Being Home is an event conceived by Anabela Mota and Andr e. Teodsio for the
okupation of So Luiz, the house of the country with most gold in the room! In a poetic
post-Bachelard space, tools are offered in order to make the diverse bodies (human, non-
human and objects) that attend it set according to their interests. () It seemed important
for us to have, as participants, people we admire and who dont fulfil the efficiency criteria
in the media hegemony, as well as structures and artists to whom the latest artistic
guardianships tried to dislodge shelter. () We want a house open for everybody, that is
why most of the entrance is for free. We hope you come (and bring the mattress in case you
feel like falling asleep there). Your love is our identity. And mi casa es tu casa! (Free
translation) (Teodsio and Mota, 2016)

This event seemed very promising. In symbolical terms they were proposing a cozy and
welcoming event with an interesting programme. However, it didn't go so well. On the one hand,
most of the activities that were not paid, either could only receive a very small number of people,
or were not of great artistic interest. On the other hand, the paid activities, even though being of
great artistic quality and interest (artistically recognized avant-garde companies and artists)
didn't meet the event's concept, appearing to be part of the regular programme of the theatre.
Therefore, people were either coming to the evening paid shows, or were coming around during
the day but wouldn't stay long as they couldn't engage in many activities. If people were sticking
around from morning or afternoon until the night, they wouldn't feel as part of the event. Its
identity was very blurred; people wouldn't feel "home".

The production of the event fell short from what it could have been. Some of the bad examples
are the waiting list and the direct communication between organizers and visitors. The visitors
couldn't find their way in order to find the events they wanted. There were no signs nor reception
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for the visitors and the direct communication was extremely bad. The workers of the theatre
were not in direct contact with the commissioners and that made it very difficult to enjoy the
event instead of rushing to find the way to an activity. The tickets for the paid shows were
bought in the box office of the theatre and there was no problem with those. However, the
waiting lists for the events taking part during the day were lacking organization. These lists were
either written in a paper held by a lady, that would, at times, disappear, and, at others, say that
if someone important arrived people would have to give in their place, in a half an hour
performance to which the places had been scheduled in the beginning of the day; or it was just
a standing queue, in which people would stay for a very long time, to take part in activities that
took half an hour per person. On top of that some talks were impossible to be heard as other
events were taking place in adjacent sites of the theatre.

It is important to stress that the event wasn't organized by the theatre's production. That may be
reason why the identity of the event was so blurred and not in accordance with the theatre itself.
Being home didn't have a defined strategy as its mission didnt match either the programme
neither the concept the event was trying to bring about.

To sum up, there were several activities that were a complete success. The evening shows were
almost always completely full, and were re-productions of past successful productions to which
the audience responded unhesitatingly. Some of the activities during the day, though engaging
very few people, also accomplished enjoyment from the people that got to participate in them.

Raymond Williams also wrote about the analysis of culture and how art-works should be
analyzed according to the context in which they are created. It was certainly an error to suppose
that values or art-works could be adequately studied without reference to the particular society
within which they were expressed () (Williams, 1961: 714) He states that art is present in a
society as an activity. Neither to the society nor to the art-work is granted priority in its
relationship. (cf. Id., ibid., p. 714) It is then not a question of relating the art to the society, but
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of studying all the activities and their interrelations, without any concession of priority to any
one of them we may choose to abstract. (Id., ibid., p. 714) Therefore we shall understand the
context of activities taking part in Portugal, more particularly in Lisbon, at the time because the
significance of an activity must be sought in terms of the whole organization, which is more
than the sum of its separable parts. (Id., ibid., p. 716)

What both events succeed on doing was engaging some of the art-works presented with the
activities which give context to what Portuguese living now. During both events there were new
aesthetics, new texts and new artists being presented. This simple fact allows the audiences to
engage in a direct dialogue with themes that are being discussed at the moment. What D. Maria
II's event did better than So Luiz's was engaging the art-works with the city. It had events
outdoors, readings in the square near the theatre, short plays in old typical Portuguese shops
downtown, the theatre book fair in Rossio Square.

Both events also held a wide variety of different activities - even the ones of the same kind
differed very much between them. This is particular of the crisis that art has been undergoing
some years from now with productions of all kind and with multidisciplinarity. This is an evident
characteristic of the pluralism of races, cultures, nationalities, that has been expanding in Lisbon.
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(Photo by: Teatro Nacional D. Maria II)

Going back to the perspective that culture is ordinary, presented by Williams, if we take a look
at So Luiz's event through it, it doesn't seem like the event made a clear message of the less
elitist means for the arts. The free activities were of weaker artistic interest and the paid ones of
greater; this makes an obvious, but maybe unintended, social and artistic stratification.
Moreover, the communication, even though inviting everyone for the weekend, didn't reach as
many people as it should have, engaging a way too large percentage of people from the artistic
fields and excluding everyone else. Personally, I think the strategy this event was aiming for
was differentiation, but as it wasn't well executed, they ended up with a focus strategy. (cf.
Tanwar, 2013) I don't think this was their objective but, as said before, with such a faulty
communication and a very avant-garde evening programme (with the paid shows), it ended up
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working for a small segment of the demand, being it the people from the artistic fields, more
specifically, performing arts' filed, which happens to be, in its majority, very elitist.

To conclude, Free Entry, the event held by the National Theatre D. Maria II merged a great
communication strategy with its political message of having the theatre working for everyone,
without discrimination. However, this doesn't imply that the theatre becomes a commercial
venue responding to the market - it guarantees an audience that engages with the theatre's
activities while the theatre is able to experiment - as the theatre is not promoting its plays but
the image of the theatre itself. Comparatively the Municipal Theatre of Lisbon, So Luiz, held
an event in which it wasn't able to match the communication strategy with the proposal of the
programme. Offering a wide variety of paid and unpaid activities and having a concept that was
trying to be welcoming and comfy it ended up being elitist, not engaging a lot of people from
outside the artistic fields.
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Bibliography

Firzgibbon, Marian (1997), "Speaking for Themselves: Part two: Interview with Patrick
Mason", Firzgibbon, Marian and Kelly, Anne (eds.), From Maestro to Manager: Critical Issues
in Arts and Culture Management, Dublin: Oak Tree Press, Pp. 52-66
Tanwar, Ritika (2013), Porters Generic Competitive Strategies, IOSR Journal of Business and
Management, Volume 15, Issue 1, Pp. 11-17
Teatro D. Maria II (2015), Entrada Livre [leaflet]
Teodsio, Andr e. and Mota, Anabela (2016), Estar em Casa [leaflet]
Williams, Raymond (1958), "Culture is Ordinary", Badmington, Neil et. al. (eds.), The
Routledge Critical and Cultural Theory Reader, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2008, Pp. 82-94
Williams, Raymond (1961), The Analysis of Culture, Harrison, Charles and Wood, Paul
(eds.), Art in Theory 1900-1990: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, Oxford: Blackwell, 1992,
Pp. 712-717

Electronic References

Carvalho, Cludia Lima (2014), "Tiago Rodrigues o novo director do D. Maria II e Miguel
Honrado preside administrao", in Pblico, available at:
(https://www.publico.pt/culturaipsilon/noticia/d-maria-ii-1674288)