Several audience members who did not reside in New York City told me they had never seen a play, and it simply would not occur to them to go, however they attended this production because the location of the performance made it seem like a more exciting event than going to the theatre. This speaks to how deeply ingrained their negative preconceived notions of what "going to the theatre were, and I was surprised by how rampant the misconceptions about what it means to attend a theatrical performance seemed to be, especially to "non-urbanites". .
In all cases, it was abundantly clear to me that the majority of Dream's young adult audience had experienced, to one degree or another, something that opened the possibility of theatre as something they could find enjoyable, to which they could relate, and which held a strong relevance for them. My hope is that the experience of Dream opened them up to the possibility of attending theatre that is not so specifically, and overtly, geared to their demographic. In at least one case I know that this occurred, as one of the audience members, who was in town from University of Massachusetts, remains a close friend to this day, and credits Dream (the first play he had seen since he was a child, despite being an aspiring filmmaker) with opening the door to a lifelong interest in theatre. I watched as this interest evolved, and have laughed with him about the irony that such a poorly crafted production encouraged him to attend professionally produced theatre, which he otherwise would never have seen. .
I tried, during the following decade, to replicate the success of my first production with regard to its appeal to members of my age cohort, but with little success. My goal, since that first endeavor into directing, has consistently been to create well crafted theatre that is intelligent, immediate, provocative, and relevant to members of my age cohort without "dumbing down" the material, or relying exclusively on making the work sexy, violent, or hip for the sake of hipness.
