Adam Rosko here, director of Trek in the Park (and Captain Kirk).
First of all, I speak for all of Atomic Arts when I say that we cannot thank you enough for all the love and support we’ve received this year on our opening weekend of Trek in the Park. It was incredible to hear and see so much enthusiasm for something we’ve worked on all year, since the close of last summer’s Trek adventure.
I’d also like to take a moment and address some feedback we’ve received at the show and online regarding the size of our theatre space. We completely understand some of the audience’s frustration with the sound and the back lawn area. This year we’ve worked harder than ever to include all of our audience in our performance. It’s not a perfect circle in the round, but currently we are performing with EVERYONE in mind. After hearing some feedback from “Mirror, Mirror”’s opening weekend, we will continue to make more tweaks and changes here and there to accommodate those in the back lawn area.
However, it is painful to me personally to hear people thinking we don’t care or aren’t trying to accommodate everyone—that’s not what Trek in the Park is, nor will ever be.
First, a little bit of history. Three years ago when Trek in the Park premiered, our goal was to just fill the “bowl” section of the Woodlawn amphitheater and to our surprise, we did. Towards our final weekend, people began to sit in the lawn area behind the stage. During Trek in the Park’s second year, we had to make last-minute tweaks to the production to address our growing lawn crowd. I say “last minute” because we honestly never thought we’d get that big a crowd.
Since then, we’ve been committed to making sure that the growing audience in the back never felt ignored or unappreciated. This is our third year providing a free, family-friendly intergalactic show in the park, and we knew there would be an overflow audience from the “bowl” to the back lawn area. We looked into many options to amplify the sound so dialogue could be heard regardless of where people sat. However, given the set up of the stage, the music, the incredibly high risk of feedback, and many other complications, these efforts were not practical. Having body mics for our actors was simply too expensive for us, and sound companies were unable to sponsor it (the very physical fight scenes alone would be a huge liability).
That Trek in the Park remains free is a necessity—we are obligated not to charge because we simply do not own “Star Trek.” However, it’s also important to me personally that this show remain free: Atomic Arts’ goal with Trek in the Park is to share a live theatrical experience where money is not an issue for our audience. I don’t need to tell you that in this economy, that not only is money tight for most folks, but live theatre can be pretty expensive. My group and I want to provide light, breezy summer entertainment without any strings attached while spending an afternoon in a great park watching theatre.
With the help of a few sponsors and the money out of our own pockets, we pay for the park fees, insurance for everyone who is at the park, and port-o-johns. These things are not cheap- we look for deals and stretch every penny at Atomic Arts: all of our costume and prop materials are handmade (by donated labor) and cast and crew do what they do out of love for the material, our goals, and to make you—our audiences—really happy.
We love Woodlawn for a variety of reasons—its seldom-explored potential, the local businesses that appreciate the new customers Trek in the Park brings them, and our many audience members who love the area. While we would love a bigger space (suggested relocations like Mt. Tabor or Washington Park would be great— and possibly Trek in the Park 4 may bring us somewhere more accommodating), Woodlawn Park is our home for “Mirror, Mirror”.
This show is about fun in the summertime, with cool stories and performances we hope make people smile. From the Mayor himself to kids experiencing theatre for the first time in the small, Woodlawn amphitheater, we appreciate the support of every single audience member, and we never take any of what you give us for granted.
Thanks for your time and all your support,
Adam
Fan art sketched during July 10th performance by Kalina Geminica Wilson. Check out the full sketches and more on her website!
