Inside the Box at Adirondack Theatre Festival is outside the box thinking
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. » “I see this pandemic as an opportunity. It is a chance to innovate and grow the art form.”
So says Chad Rabinovitz, the Producing-Artistic Director of Adirondack Theatre Festival in Glens Falls, as he describes the company’s new innovative alternative to producing live theater. The concept is called, “In the Box Entertainment,” and offers an interactive evening for a family or group to spend at home.
It is a series of six monthly programs, which can be bought as a series or individually. Just before the scheduled running date a box is delivered to your home containing a number of items that keep you involved with the digital program being offered on the device of your choice. They are designed not only to keep you involved, but to add to the theatricality of the event.
And some are just clever. My favorite cute gimmick is included in the cruise package. Of course, the shipboard entertainment will be fun, but the idea of including a towel with instructions on how to make bed animal ornaments is a great touch.
Rabinovitz not only runs Adirondack Theatre Festival, he is also the Producing Artistic Director of the Bloomington Playwrights Company in Bloomington, Indiana, another organization devoted to new work. He is the only person in the country to lead two theater companies, both of which are devoted to new work.
He insists the most important thing that he’s learned in his career working with new material is that the key to drawing an audience to unfamiliar titles is that the experience is almost as important as is the product. Rabinovitz always ends his curtain speech at the Wood Theatre reminding his audience that what they are experiencing is unique to them and not happening anywhere else in the world.
This is the idea behind “In the Box.” It’s an entirely new concept that is designed for the digital age. “It’s like the wild, wild west. We are making the rules as we go. By fall people will be tired of reruns of familiar shows and will be seeking new material. We will be offering an entirely new experience that has familiar elements but will be presented in an entirely new way.”
The six titles offer some idea of what to expect. The first is “Magic in a Box,” which is offered September 10-19. Next is “Film Festival in a Box,” October 15-18, followed by “A Cruise in a Box” on November 3-14. The December program “Talent in a Box” is a talent competition, which is offered only on December 17.
The series continues in 2021 with “Mystery in a Box,” offered January 12-23 and closes with “Painting in a Box” on February 9-20.
However, Rabinovitz insists that the content is more than a magic show, a talent competition, a murder mystery or a paint by numbers experience. Great pains are being taken to assure that the visuals of each show are the highest quality and will avoid the flat two-dimensional look of too many digital offerings.
He points out that in some ways they are competing against Netflix and Amazon.
“We cannot go head to head against the vast catalogues of their product. We need to be different and fresh.”
He adds an important caveat. “Neither can we look shabby. We have to offer a look that matches the quality of our content.” He is also aware that at an asking price of $35-$40 per show, there must be obvious value to the content.
He is high on the theatricality of the material, calling “Painting in A Box” a work that can work on stage as well as on digital platforms. The box contains equipment to paint with a local PBS favorite painting show, “Painting for Two”. Except the host’s partner isn’t there and he has to do the show alone. And since the financially troubled station has lost most of the other hosts, he finds himself being a one-man television station – which is ripe for outrageous comedy.
As for the opening magic show, he promises a number of “mind blowing tricks never seen before.” However, on the most elementary level he uses the most familiar card trick known as an impressive visual.
“It’s one thing to be in a theater, and have the magician pick the card you’ve chosen. It elevates hundreds of degrees when at home you open a sealed box and find the card you’ve chosen.” He says much the same about the murder mystery, which turns into the idea that perhaps it is you who are being hunted.
Indeed, the series is called “Inside the Box,” but it is outside the box thinking.
For more details on the programs, dates, contents of boxes (a couple are geared for only one or two participants)) and cost information go to atfestival. org