Page 18 RAIN February/March 1978 NE:W·WESTERN ~ ~NERGY-~HOvi troupe (we have 14) you need more money but can offer more with a specialized staff. People for th~ following five key positions must be found and educated to their respective responsibilities: 1. Show coordinator(s): We have two.) They will provide good overall guidance, will be responsible for organization, will keep track of funding, hire troupe members, and make final decisions. Coordinators worry a lot, endure a lot, work unending hours, "carry the weight;" utmost care must be taken to find strong, flexible people with a sense of humor and patience, who can be insistent without being overbearing or ''bossy.'' • 2. Show de~igner: If the physicai body of the show is to be unified, portable, pleasing to the eye, and informative, an arti'stically and technically 'capable designer is needed to make each idea a working reality. Our design of the trailer/stage and the show circle with different displays is unified by both shape and color. And ,don't forget to take the weather into account: displays must be rain- and wind-proof (and tl;ie bottom parts of standing panels must be dog-pee-proof!) 3. Advance person: You'll need someone who is knowledgeable about the show's needs and objectives, can talk to any sort of person, and can make sound decisions on the spot. Ideally your advance person will find a local person to coordinate show and show-related activities in each town. And, among other things, s/he will coordinate publicity and media coverage, obtain.parade permits, find a site for the show, locate local exhibitors, and arrange local solar hP,fle tours. 4. Theater director: A dramatic presentation is a work of art and therefore needs the vision and guidance of a single person. Theater scripts and music developed by the cast through group improvisation and individual effort need critical editing by the director. If there is plenty of time (6 weeks or more), the coordination of the theater troupe can evolve more organically using a combination of various people's visions, but our experience with limited time has led us to favor the former situation. ./ 5. Technical director: The collec"ti~n of displays, equipment and models mus~ be built or acquired by the technical ' director in coordination with the designer. Workshops, slide shows, and other technical presentations must be developed. As public knowledge continually increases, finding very knowledgeable technical personnel gets harder and harder (they are all in great demand now!) Last summer we resorted-successfully-to offering free, week-long vacations· with the show to nationally known experts (including Lane deMoll) to beef up our expertise. To date our funding for the New Western Energy Show (grants, donations, and a benefit auction) has given us the freedom to plan comprehensiv·e tours around all of Montana. However, after the official 1977 tour, the show was paid by several organizations in Butte to travel back across the state and visit that town. We received our most enthusiastic response of the summer in Butte and realized that the mor~ support (in the form of money and local footwork) we have, . the better appreciated we arc. If they are paying to have us come, they get out the troops. The amount of money·needcd to produce and run a show depends on the style of the show. The ERDA/Honeywell version of a traveling solar energy show cost $400,000 to build and their staff stayed.in, expensive motels. Our total cost for ,wo summer tours was about' $70,000, and we slept under the stars. Anyone or any group who is conce~ned about energy might undertake a project of.this sort with success. The trick is to have your'heart in the right place. Remember that everything i's possible as long as you don't know it's impossible. It could be an ideal cross-disciplinary college project; how about a governmental organization, scout troop, or another grassroots organization? And in fact, the information our show deals with is interchangeable witli other information. What we are really talking about is a very new (and at the same time not altogether new) but very appropriate-form of education. •The New Western Energy Show is going.into year-round operation,from our new center in Helena. Any questions, suggestions or news of what you're.doing/would like to do would be greatly appreciated (406/44'2-45~2). To tell more about our activities we have an.hour-long documentary film of our 1977 summer and videotapes.of our theater available for rent. • -Robin ,-.eenhouts and David 1':limick 'New Western ~nergy Show 842 Fifth Avenue Helena, MT 59601
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