Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1993 - 23

COMPUTING TRENDS
IN THEATRE PRODUC ION
VIRGINIA L. SALMON
n a series of inrerviews conducred in early 1991, 33 pracricing
rhearre professionals were asked
abour rheir use of compurers.
Alrhough compurers have been
used in adminisrrarion and
lighring for more rhan a dozen
vears, orher areas of rhe rhearre have
been much slo\\'er ro compurerize. \X/hy
has compurerizarion been so slow in rhe
rhearre? How are compurers used' Do
rhearre professionals as a group view
compurers posirively or negarively'
The general public mav assume rhar
rhearre professionals, as members of a
crearive crafr, have an anri-rechnology
arrirude and rhus are relucranr ro
implemenr new rechnology. In reaJiry.
rhearre professionals rend ro be curious
abom and inreresred in rechnology.
These characrerisrics are necessary in
an organizarion which has ro adapr
mosr of rhe rechnology ir uses from
orher indusrries. They are also imporranr facrors in rerms of user acceprance
of compurers.
Throughour hisrory, however, rhe
rhearre has been slow ro adopr rechnological change. Ofren rhe reasons for rhe
hesirancy include a lack of funds and a
need ro adapr rhe rechnolo~' ro rhe specific requiremenrs of rhe rhearre. "New"
rechnology has ro be proven before ir is
adopred, and compurer rechnology is no
differenr rhan any orher in rerms of
acceprance. One respondenr nored rhar
rhearre people somerimes equare rechnology wirh glirz and do nor alway recognize rhe ways rhar rechnology can make
rhe real rhearre crearive process more producrive.

BACKGROUND OF THE SURVEY
The inrerviews were conducred ro ger a
more realisric view of compurer use and
nonuse in rhe rhearre. The inrerviewees
are fairly represenrarive of rechnical rhearre personnel. Twenry-five were
employed in college/universiry serrings ar
rhe rime of rhe survey, and rhe resr were
eirher independenr, in rhe relevision
indusrry, or associared wirh regional rheaues. Cleveland 1 and Gill' reponed rhe
resulrs of rheir surveys designed ro derermine com purer usage. These surveys
focused on obsracles ro com purer use as
well as currenr and furure applicarions
and equipmenr use. The informarion
obrained in rhe personal inrerviews
reflecrs rhe responses in Gill's survey,
especially in rerms of obsracles and applicarions. Because of rhe number of people
involved, rhe inrerviews allowed more
expression of reasons and feelings.
Ar rhe rime of rhe survey, five respondenrs were nor using compurers in rheir
daily work. (Two were rechnical direcrors
and rhree were designers.) One of rhe five
is a self-proclaimed "rechnophobe" who
happily funcrions wirhour a compurer.
Anorher supervises people who use compurers and feels no need ro use one himself, alrhough he is knowledgeable abour
currenr applicarions. One respondenr
does nor need a com purer in his currenr
work, bur has one ar home for personal
use. The orher rwo would like ro use
compurers, bur rhey have very limired
access ro hardware and sofrware.
For many people, access is rhe major
facror in developing compurer skills.
Mosr of rhe inrervicwees learned COIll-

purer sysrems and sofrware on rheir own,
wirh lirrle or no formal rraining. These
people were eirher exposed ro compurers
when rhey began working professionally
or realized rhar some rhearres used COIllpurers, even if rheir own did nor. A concern wirh being compurer illirerare, as
well as personal inreresr, provided rhe
incemive ro learn. Some organizarions
provided compurers for rhe rheaue professionals and, since rhe respondenrs had
specific needs rhar rhey felr could be mer
by compurerizarion, rhey raughr rhemselves ro use panicular programs. Ofren
rhey wrore rheir own programs or adapred exisring one.

PRACTICAL USES
The mosr orren-cired use of rhe compurer is for paperwork. Compurers are used
for budgers, schedules, calendars, forms,
flowchans, word processing, comracrs,
box offlcelricker sales, public relarions,
publici f)', inventories (scenery, cosrumes,
props. marerials), work/srudy and srudem hours and payroll, deskrop publishing, mailing lisrs, and class mare rials such
as syllabi, lecrure nores, and grades and
advising sheers. Many of rhese programs
are available off rhe shelf, bur some have
been specifically designed for rhe needs
of rhe rhearre.
Alrhough rhe majoriry of compllrcr
use is for adminisrrarive funcrions, COIllpurers are used in rechnical rhearre as
well. In rhe rechnical areas, compurers
were used inirially only in rhe producrion
planning srages. As rhe sofrware became
1110re flexible and rhearre specific. however, rhearres began using compurers durTD&T

1993 FAll

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1993