Bilingual Bicycles

Two-wheelers and two languages hit the road, bringing theatre to parks

By Eliza Bent

Challenge

To attract non-theatregoers and non-English- speaking audiences.

Plan

Build cool-looking bicycles and portable sets. Take a visual, bilingual show on the road.

What Worked

Intergenerational entertainment; partnerships with local socially minded organizations.

What Didn't

Halts in fundraising during tour season; outdoor stories that rely too much on text.

What's Next

More movement-based stories and community partnerships.

What exactly do people mean when they talk about "audience development"? The term often gets tossed around in grant applications and at theatre convenings and seems to drive at methods of attracting a younger, hipper, more ethnically diverse set of people than the kind theatres tend to attract. But for the Imaginists Theatre Collective in Santa Rosa, Calif., audience development is at the center of its mission. Audience development, for the Imaginists, is about creating art that welcomes everyone, including people whose stories often go unrepresented on stage and whose first language may not be English.

The collective, which was founded in 1993 under the name Knights of Indulgence Theatre United States, has its roots in ensemble-generated original work. "We thought we were discovering something new," laughs executive director Brent Lindsay when talking about the group's start in an abandoned schoolhouse in rural Delaware. "One thing we really learned was how much the audience means to the theatre. Questions we always ask are, 'Who are we? Who gets to see art? Who is art for? And who gets to create art?'"

The Imaginists moved to Truckee, Calif., and then to Santa Rosa in 2001. For Lindsay, the necessity of a bilingual ensemble was obvious. "There's a lot of rhetoric around immigration issues in this part of the country. We wanted to be artistically responsible and bring two communities of people under one roof on one stretch of grass by way of art," he says. In 2007 the Imaginists presented The Divide, a bilingual community-based piece conceived and performed by a bilingual ensemble in collaboration with the Healdsburg Day Labor Center. The following summer Extranjeros En Su Propia Tierra/Strangers In Their Own Land was performed in collaboration with the Graton Day Labor Center, a not-for-profit that organizes day laborers and protects workers' rights. But it wasn't until 2009, with El Show Arte Es Medicina/The Art Is Medicine Show, that the Imaginists used their now signature bilingual free-to-the-public bike touring model.

When the financial crisis hit, Lindsay and fellow ensemble members drew inspiration from the WPA and the Federal Theatre Project. "We wanted to bring The Medicine Show to specific spots," recalls Lindsay. The group knew that parks would provide an excellent cross-section of audience members. It was essential for the Imaginists to include people who struggle with immigration issues at the center of the art-making process, which was why they had reached out to the Graton Day Labor Center for Extranjeros. "We wanted to work with people whose stories don't often get told in traditional theatre," explains Lindsay. Five non-actors from the Graton Center agreed to help create that show and ended up performing alongside Imaginist regulars. (Three of them still remain in the company.)

Understandably, the new collaborators were shy at first. Says Lindsay, "It definitely took time to build trust. But rehearsals became a cauldron of training—the actors and non-actors learned so much from each other." In navigating language barriers, he says, "You're forced to be patient and everything becomes extremely democratic. As a result, the audience becomes a reflection of the ensemble."

As for the bicycles, Imaginist ensemble member Jenine Alexander had recently returned from a tour of Europe and Asia with Cyclown Circus, whose musicians used tall bicycles to get around. "Late one night it finally all connected that we would use eco-friendly bikes to make this traveling bilingual show about the economic crisis and immigration issues," says Lindsay.

The Imaginists won a CA$H grant from Theatre Bay Area for $5,000 and allotted a portion of it to build special bikes. Todd Barricklow proved to be an indispensable asset. "He is a visual artist and an integral part of Santa Rosa's Annual Handcar Regatta," attests Lindsay, "and he donated a lot of time and knowledge." A Dutch Postal Bike with a flatbed in front was built to carry a mobile puppet stage. Other bikes use saddlebags and trailers to carry various props and puppets. Child seats, for performers with kids, are attached to a few bikes as well. The ensemble of actors always starts from the Imaginists' space in downtown Santa Rosa. "We become a crazy-looking caravan. Along the way other cyclists join up with us—you never know who you'll ride back with."

Funding hasn't been easy. In the first year the Theatre Bay Area grant helped pay actors and non-actors, but recently the collective has sought sponsorship from the city and tried to organize fundraisers. "When we're on the road with our bikes, though, everything kind of halts—including fundraising," laments Lindsay, before adding, "I don't want to whine. This show is the soul food of our work; it's payment in and of itself." Typically the show tours three to fours times a week during the summer. The rest of the season, the Imaginists present both original work and adaptations in their space downtown. "Now that we've been using the bicycles," notes Lindsay, "our more traditional shows tend to spill out into the street, too."

Partnerships with local programs such as the Redwood Empire Food Bank, which offers free lunches to kids, and LandPaths, dedicated to maintaining green space, have deepened over the years. "Playing to the free lunch program is the sort of experience that gives you chills as an artist—you leave in tears," says Lindsay. He goes on, "Last year when we played at Bayer Farm, an inner-city farm, it was packed. People were so gracious and had brought food. It became a festival!" As audiences have grown, the design process has tried to keep up. Technologically the group faces hurdles such as making the work audible outdoors: Usually there are five performers in a park with upwards of 200 onlookers and no mics. "We get better at failing," says Lindsay cheerfully.

What about rain? "It hasn't rained yet—this is California we're talking about here!" So perhaps the outdoor bicycle model might not be so well suited for a place like Seattle. But the benefits are palpable and come most often in anecdotal form. "In what other kind of artistic experience does an 8-year-old kid get to ride with a 63-year-old?" asks Lindsay, who describes children as particularly rapt audience members. "There's something magical for them about the whole impromptu nature of the spectacle."

While the touring bilingual bicycle shows haven't generated loads of cross-over audiences for the Imaginists' regular season, Lindsay is not too worried. "What's important is that hundreds of people who might never step foot in a theatre see art and live performance."

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