Just days before the deadline, Orange Theatre was struggling to reach its $2,250 goal for its fall show “Blood Wedding.” By Oct. 28, Orange Theatre had raised just $1,512 — $985 short with eight hours left.
But when fundraising ended at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 28, Orange Theatre had surpassed its goal, making $2,342. Orange Theatre’s campaign started on Sept. 13 and was funded by 39 contributors, according to the Indiegogo page.
Orange Theatre artistic director Matthew Watkins said that with eight hours left, he anticipated making at least $500 more. Orange Theatre had previously set up two other Indiegogo campaigns and had been successful both times.
“We can adjust our budget to what kind of money we do have,” Watkins said. “We’re going to make it work. The amount of funding … dictates what we can do with it. But we’re pretty resourceful, and we figure out a way to keep our doors open.”
For the eight company members at Orange Theatre, all of whom have received degrees from ASU, each production is worked on for months — an unusually long amount of time for most theater productions.
They have been rehearsing their fall show, inspired by the play “Blood Wedding” by Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, since June. In September, the company put on two nights of performances showing 20 minutes of a finished portion of the play after six weeks of rehearsals.
Company member Katrina Donaldson said she thinks that the freedom artists want is encouraged at Orange.
“It’s much more loose-form,” Donaldson said. “Sometimes we might spend an entire four-hour rehearsal working on like a 30-second moment … just to get it down and get it precise. It keeps it fresh, it keeps it exciting and it keeps it challenging.”
This loose form of Orange Theatre means that their performance of Blood Wedding will not look like it does on the page. The blocking and movements will deviate from the play, said company member William Crook.
“We took the text of Blood Wedding and did blocking and movements from ‘Godzilla,’” said Crook. “In rehearsal, we’re looking at blocking from soap operas and daytime specials.”
Donaldson lived in Spain and said she connected with Lorca’s play. Because none of the other cast members had that kind of personal connection to it, Watkins said it became about “trying to figure out how to make this play about our desires to be with someone else or to be somewhere else.”
Indiegogo is not the only way Orange Theatre fundraises. They used Indiegogo in tandem with a letter-writing campaign to prospective donors, encouraging them to donate to the company. Crook said another way they get funds for shows is through their pay-what-you-can method of selling tickets.
“There are plenty of people who are willing to give more than a dollar or two,” Crook said. “People are more generous than we give them credit for.”
Blood Wedding opens Dec. 6 and runs Dec. 6-8, Dec. 13–15 and Dec. 20–21. All shows start at 8 p.m. at 605 E. Grant St., Suite 98, and are pay-what-you-can.
Contact the reporter at knasiff@asu.edu
