In our travels through the actor-centric Interwebs, we’ve made the acquaintance of Justin Waggle, an actor and web developer passionate about using new media to connect audiences to live performance.  We invited him to tell our readers about his new site Stagetribes.com, a social networking tool for performers.  – The Brains

Justin Waggle is an actor, director and web developer living and working in Los Angeles.
He is a founding member of a theatre company called theatrevolution and the lead programmer and owner of Stage Tribes, LLC.  He is currently playing Lockstock in URINETOWN at the Morgan-Wixson and can be seen in the Streamy-nominated web series GOLD.

The necessity of tribes

After years of working as an actor, stage manager, and director, I find myself contemplating the nature of relationships in theatre. Now, I generally lean toward pontification and manifestos so I’ll try to keep this brief. Let me start with this: We (unruly theatre people) are a mass of interconnected artists strewn across the world in a multi-colored tapestry that reflects our various points of view (See? I told you I pontificate.). Because our product (live performance) is such a subjective experience, artists rarely agree on methodology or message. This angst and lack of centralized power or guidance (particularly in the U.S.) has led to the formation of a theatre community full of disparate tribes. Because theatre is such a collaborative art form, by its very nature, the formation and development of these tribes is essential to theatre’s continued existence.

I can’t take credit for the “tribes” terminology. After reading Tribes by Seth Godin, I realized how much his dystopian view applied to the theatre industry. Who’s Seth Godin? Let’s just say he’s a marketing and leadership philosopher (Dare I say genius?) who has written a ton of books. Look him up on TED.com if you want to hear him speak on the nature of tribes. Independent theatre companies, regional and community theaters, touring companies and a variety of other tribes dedicated to live performance are competing with new media (think Internet) and with each other. In this ever-changing landscape, it has become more important than ever to understand the nature of our interconnectedness and develop fresh leadership that will keep our theatre community vibrant and alive.

A tribe forms because of shared goals and a shared vision. Tribes congregate around leaders, causes, projects, personal tastes and shared interests. The more specific a tribe becomes about its goals, the greater the sense of identity it can impart to its members. Many an acting teacher has given me the same stalwart advice passed on to them (read this next bit in a harsh Judy Dench-like British accent): “To be taken seriously as an actor, you need to think of your career as a business. You are the sole proprietor of your own brand. You have to look out for your own interests because no one else will. Bullshit.” Oh, wait. Stop reading this like Judy Dench. I say Bullshit because you are discounting the members of your tribe. If you believe that you are alone in this world and in this business then you are closing your eyes to the reality of the situation. Theatre is collaboration and we succeed and fail together.

Do you belong to a tribe?

You may already belong to a few different tribes. Are they helping you to fulfill your goals? Are you still looking, searching, and hoping (fingers crossed, biting your lower lip) to find that special place where you belong? You are not alone. Many people get involved in theatre for this very reason. Acting is a form of expression that is unique in that it requires the willing participation of artists and an audience. You can have “pretend time” in front of your stuffed dolls all you want and it just won’t be the same. Trust me. Peter the Bear just stares back and he never claps. Bastard. All I’m trying to say is that there are opportunities for connection all around. I’m not talking about the fake hug and cheek peck connections. I’m talking life-changing, vision-enhancing opportunities with people you know or meet that relate to your art. I guarantee that you cannot create theatre on your own so let’s stop pretending that you can. It’s time to look outside of yourself and start recognizing talent and passion in others. I’m not saying this as an altruistic allegory (say that three times fast). I’m pleading with you to recognize your tribes’ talents and utilize them to showcase your own and vice versa. Join a tribe and start to contribute to a group repository. Help reinvigorate our industry. Pretty please with a cherry on top.

Your tribe may be trying to find you. Believe it or not, there is a group of shoeless, kilt-wearing Shakespearean mimes out there looking for you to join them. Ironically, the only reason you haven’t heard of them is because they haven’t been able to gesture to you loud enough. It doesn’t mean they’re not there. Keep looking! If searching for your tribe has become a burden, it may be time to start your own tribe and lead the way for others.

The social network behind social networking

Tribes are springing up all over. Search engine companies and social networking sites are capitalizing on this trend by providing tools for people to get together and solidify their connection with like-minded individuals regardless of geography, economic status, or a thousand other factors that typically play a heavy hand in social interaction. It’s not surprising that tribes are connecting through the power of the Internet, but a tribe doesn’t form because of the Internet.

“…the Internet is just a tool, an easy way to enable some tactics. The real power of tribes has nothing to do with the Internet and everything to do with people. You don’t need a keyboard to lead… you only need the desire to make something happen.” – from Tribes by Seth Godin

Facebook, MySpace, Ning, and their cousins thrive on the idea of attracting every person on the planet to their interactive systems. These platforms work because they serve the needs of the people that use them. Without participation, the platform architecture folds up and goes away. It all depends on us. It all depends on our tribes. Don’t forget that.

That’s not to say there aren’t useful things we can do with these ubiquitous social networks. Event postings, blogs, status updates, and personal messages to your friends can really help to stoke the fires for audience support of your next project. In fact, most of that has become standard practice in the marketing arena. Almost everyone has a Facebook Fan Page collecting new members and directing them to a dedicated website for further information or ticket sales.

What’s cool about this type of interaction is that it typically targets people that might consider joining a tribe with you. It takes advantage of personal connections and highlights written messages between people. Generally speaking, it’s a great tool for collaboration.

As much as I love my Facebook, it’s worth mentioning that most social networks plan their layouts and toolsets to maximize their sites for general use (i.e. birthday invitations and vacation photos). As a result, the groups and events that you create for your specialized tribe can get lost in generalized platform architectures. Okay. Okay. Push up your glasses and snort. The point I’m trying to make here is that a universal platform doesn’t always lend itself to specialized behavior and design intent. The current social networking model is a framework for individuals to connect to other individuals. We have yet to harness the collective power of tribes approaching specific genres and fields.

All of this led me to start developing a new website (a new tactic) called Stage Tribes. StageTribes.com is an offering, a work in progress, a place to share. I won’t bore you with the details. Check it out if you are so inclined. I’m more interested in the tribes starting to use the site. Let’s talk a little about that shall we?

Tribe migration

I’ve lived in New York and now in Los Angeles because everyone kept telling me that these were the places that I needed to be in order to “make it” as an actor. Hmm. That’s not really accurate. I moved to these places because I believed the stories about NY and LA and I wanted to be with my friends so I went along with the program. Okay. The truth? The whole thing was about a girl…but I did want a career in theatre as well! Don’t you judge me!

It is an undeniable fact that NY and LA continue to be the powerhouses of the entertainment industry. This doesn’t mean you have to be there to make art or have a career. There are opportunities everywhere. I can hear you thinking, “Pfff. Not where I live.” Again, I say bullshit. If there isn’t anything going on at the moment, start something. “But the economy….” Horse pucky (Got you there with a different animal and a hockey reference). Economic downturn creates opportunity for upstarts. If there’s nothing going on in your area then you will have a monopoly on your region’s attention. If you hate your region and want to move, well, that’s a different story.

There are thousands of independent theatre companies in the Los Angeles area. Each of these tribes has an agenda they are trying to fulfill. Some companies create new works, some stick to the classics, and others are still defining their goals and aesthetics. And these tribes are on the move. Maintaining a definitive home is a luxury that most cannot afford. This makes it even more difficult to locate and identify tribes according to your personal criteria. It really can be quite frustrating and overwhelming especially if you just moved to a crazily foreign landscape like Hollywood (where nothing is what it appears to be).

I consider myself fortunate to have fallen in with a few different tribes in the Los Angeles area. I am not a member of Lucid by Proxy, a theater group, but I would consider myself a member of their tribe. These guys produce original works and they are a close knit group of pioneers that specialize in intimate theatre. I’m a huge fan of their work and I model my pursuits after them. They’ve jumped on board with the Stage Tribes concept and you can find out more about them on StageTribes.com or on LucidbyProxy.com. Another tribe that I’m getting to know is a group called The Last Metro Company. These guys and gals re-envision classic works and they are currently producing their debut production of Twefth Night (StageTribes.com /LastMetroCompany.com). I started my own tribe called theatrevolution (with a lower case “t” to make it more pretentious) and we produced Noah Haidle’s Mr. Marmalade last year and are looking to forward to another play this year (StageTribes.com / theatrevolution.com). I’ve also worked with the Grand Guignolers, a macabre troupe of clowns in Hollywood, and the venerable Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica. These are just a few examples of tribes that are out there!

Like I said, there are literally thousands to choose from. Where do you fit into all of this? Hopefully you’ll find a group that works for you. You might run into a few tribes that frustrate you or wind up being something different than you thought they were. Don’t give up. Every experience can help you discover what you want and what you don’t want in a tribe. I know. I know. Save me some time here. My looks are fading! I’m 22! With so many choices, how do I find the tribes that are worth my time? How do I find the “good” tribes? Okay, here’s what I think. If you have a better plan, I’m ready to jump in with both feet. Seriously. Email me, call me, send a carrier pigeon.

A new metric for success

One of my big plans for Stage Tribes centers on developing a new way to help tribe members find and promote performances, auditions, and other local events. This tool will emphasize the tribe over the individual production and try to help the greater theatre community tune into our collective power as artists.

As I mentioned earlier, theatre is a subjective experience. Two people sitting next to each other in a live performance can have violently different opinions of a show. Who’s right and who’s wrong? This is where we get into the arena of popular opinion. This reviewer loved the show. That reviewer hated it. Three people gave the show four stars and one person gave it two stars. Why? The crappy part is that we will never know. For the same reason you didn’t get that national commercial I guess. Because you’re fat. No. Wait. That’s not it. Most audience members don’t have a very sophisticated vocabulary to describe their experience and they have a hard time separating their opinion about the subject matter from their experience of the show. And just like you, the audience doesn’t want to waste their time on bad theatre. Who do we turn to? What do we do? Well, here it is. Here’s the idea: Let’s turn to each other. Wha?!

Five star systems and reviewers relate opinions about a subjective experience and even those opinions can be interpreted subjectively. And yet the delicate balance between critic and production persists! I’m not saying that we need to give up on critics all together. Lord knows I like to see my name attached to a favorable comment in Backstage West or the Los Angeles Times. I’m just saying that there is something else.

Support from your tribe is generally what brings people to see your show. If your tribe supports your production, they pass on word about your show to their friends and colleagues. Your audience can be members of your tribe too! Don’t forget them. It’s a popularity contest and the tribes and shows with the most support from tribe members usually take the cake (and eat it too).

I am in the process of developing a system where people have a finite amount of support that they can lend to tribes at any given time (10 votes of support). I’m hoping this will stoke the competitive fires of our industry by creating an environment where people will have to be more discerning when they recommend a show. These votes aren’t a judgment of the work itself. They are votes of support for that production and for that tribe. Again, it’s a popularity contest. Let’s not pretend it’s anything else. If you like the work a particular tribe produces; you can support them before you even see the show using this model. When the tribe’s show is over, you get your votes back to redistribute to this tribe’s next show or another tribe’s show that strikes your fancy. Don’t get me wrong here. This is just an idea for a website component that might help us get some perspective. It’s not the solution. Support from your tribe is the only true measure of successful marketing.

The give and take between you and the members of your tribe(s) constitutes the new metric for success. Embrace it. It doesn’t matter whether you start, join, follow or lead a tribe. The art that comes as a result of your collaboration will benefit you, your tribe members, and the world. That’s it! I hope I haven’t bored you with my manifesto. If I have, let’s just say that your experience is subjective. And you’re wrong. Okay. Okay. It’s subjective. Ultimately, I’m interested in creating interesting theatre. If you can make that happen or help me make it happen, consider me a fellow tribe member.

And when you’re taking a tour of Stagetribes.com, don’t forget to join the Brains of Minerva tribe!