This is what happens when I email Scott Walters a story. He beats me to writing about it! All the same he writes a good post entitled Be Quiet! We’re Making Progress! about the New York Times article, The Odds Are As Big As Their Dreams. A group of actors from Los Angeles desire to gain “credibility” and strike it big by putting on an Off-Off-Broadway production John Osborne’s Epitaph for George Dillon. He goes on to question what it means to have credibility as an artist in theater and asks can that only be found in New York. Crosby highlights how deep this addiction runs when saying, “I can say now that I’ve done theater in New York,” because she and her friends uprooted and bought a production for $20,000, “which gives you some credibility.”

I look at the numbers of what these actors did to produce 12 performances of this show and I question if it is worth it. I understand the desire to try and hit it big in New York. To gamble in hope you might just be the one show that is loved and transfered to a bigger house. But at the expense to sell all you own? Why not try it out in LA first to see if there is an audience for this play? Just because you want to put on the production does not mean you should do it. Larry Moss read this play thirty years ago. What is the life of the play? How has it been received over all? It is something a current audience is going to connect with? These are all questions that can be explored in a smaller venue. I question why it had to be New York or nothing? I realize the the fact that New York is the hub of theater will not go away anytime soon, but why kill yourself?

I think it comes down to an American set of standards that has forgotten that Small is Beautiful. Yea it might be cliche, but it does not make it less true. In this group’s desire to gain “credibility” in New York they forgot about all the other possibilities. LA has a big enough theater scene where if this play is good it could have gotten some recognition. I say LA (also a huge market) because the idea of producing this show in some theaters across the U.S. is probably not even on these actors radar and in today’s market can not be compared to the desire to hit it big in New York. Even the phrase, “hit it big” is so common in the theater world it runs opposite to the small is beautiful mentality. But that mentality is not what people want to hear or read about.

Teaching [theater] is like writing a play. If I write from an idea about writing, or structure; if I write something I am assigned to write that I am not very excited about; if I write with a view of getting it over with, getting the paycheck; and if I do not have blood on every page, I do slovenly work. But if I write from my deepest self, with strength and raw passion, with respect for my characters and the structure they dictate, I have a play, and I have a classroom. Teaching drama is, in fact, writing drama. A class can only succeed if the dramatist, or teacher, makes the right choices. Are the most dramatic choices always the right choices? And is it possible that a dramatist of my sensibility can make dangerous choices as a teacher? choices that, like high diving, can produce either spectacular results or, possibly, tragic accidents? - Judith Thompson, How Theatre Educates

Flashback to undergraduate years. Modern French theatre at New College, University of Toronto, 1986. Professor enters. I glance quickly at my Beckett text before the lecture begins. I probably owe my great affection for French theatre to him. Here was someone who acted in the Shaw and Stratford festival companies, who performed on stages in Canada in both official languages, who had worked with major Canadian film directors. But what was most remarkable to me was his brilliant pedagogy. He was an inspired teacher in addition of (because of?) his extraordinary experience in the theatre. For John Gilbert, the world of teaching and the world of theatre was inseparable creative projects. They required the same capacity to communicate clearly and “let the text speak for itself.” I learned much about theatre from John, but I learned more about good teaching. Education, like theatre, is not meant to induce agreement, but to shake foundations. - Kathleen Gallagher, How Theatre Educates

I believe the title of Teresa Eyring’s article “How Theatre Saved America, Part I” is misleading. “How Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble saved Bloomsburg, PA,” would have been entirely more appropriate. I applaud Eyring for highlighting BTE, but this topic is too massive to be covered in a two-part, two page article. To highlight only one of seven listed theatre ensembles and then tell readers that the American theater is “saving America” is incredibly insufficient. If American Theatre magazine and TCG are truly concerned about this problem they should devote an entire issue to it. Interview both sides talking with everyone involved including board members, artistic directors, actors, playwrights, etc. A good place to start is the blogging community as there are many artists, practitioners and educators sharing their struggles and points of view. Also highlight more theaters outside the major metropolitan hubs showing how they are accomplishing ensemble work and providing a living wage for the artists. As well, if permission is granted, the issue should also include Mike Daisey’s monologue How Theatre Failed America, which would serve as an additional source for this contentious issue.

Contrary to its title, in Part I of her article, Eyring does not explain how theatre has saved America. Instead, she attempts to hold on to the ill-conceived notion that nothing is wrong and thus believes we should “stay the course”. Conversely, in his monologue, Daisey asserts that the regional theater has sold out. Its focus and cash flow are directed to the creation of buildings instead of using resources to support an ensemble of actors, directors, playwrights and technicians. An even bigger problem is the issue of fundraising and donation. The American public would not give money to a theatre company attempting to raise money for an ensemble of artists, but plenty of wealthy donors are willing to give money if it ensures the placement of their name on a theatre’s toilet. As Daisey states, a more apt title for his show would be: How American theater has become America, signifying a capitalistic model that places the value of things over the value of people.

At the roundtable discussion following Daisey’s final show at the Barrow Street Theatre, Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of the Public Theater, said that ideology will always trump experience. Current ideology runs counter to the possibility of ensemble artists making a living in regional theatres across America. However, as Eyring points out, experience shows that it is happening. Therefore, we need to work to change the ideology that rules both the American public and the boards of regional theaters who approve the spending. This is an extremely complex issue that can be examined from many different angles. So let’s concentrate on dissecting this topic; lets continue to talk and write articles from more than just one perspective.

As Eustis emphasized at the roundtable, we should applaud the gains of the American theater and give it some respect. Currently we have many more theater buildings than fifty or sixty years ago and so the public undoubtedly has more options to see and experience theater and artists have more spaces to work. We must also concentrate on how we can change the ingrained perception of what is considered important. How can we make the public understand that the people they are most willing to overlook, the theater artists, are the life and soul of the theater. My generation will soon be taking over the leadership of the American theater (and the nation as a whole) and for us to implement effective and meaningful change the ideology shift needs to begin now.

*UPDATE: Nick over at Rat Sass make an additional observation that I missed. Again, another reason that shows that this article did not live up to the title.

I had the great opportunity to take Karen and some friends from the NYU Steinhardt Educational Theatre program to see Mike Daisey’s closing performance of How Theater Failed America. They loved it (as I knew they would) and the panel discussion afterwards brought up some interesting ideas.

Th topic of the panel was Theater in 2033. The first question asked was from an actress who claimed she couldn’t get cast in Equity EPAs when actresses like Katie Holmes are making Broadway appearances. It felt awkward as this actress would not let it go of her frustration of not being able to be seen by ADs like Oskar Eustis. Playwright Richard Nelson put the issue to rest by saying something to the regards of “Forget about that! What’s going on there, on Broadway, has nothing to do with the art you want to do!”. The play presented such bigger issues that I was frustrated with this actress being so narrow minded bringing the issue down to why she could not get a job.

Other topics discussed were the future of theater education and the need for “Children’s Theater” to be recognized more as legitimized professional theater and not the thing actors do to get their equity card as well as how long it took actress Jayne Houdyshell to buy a house, basically all of her 35 year career.

Out of all the highly experienced panel members I was drawn most to the ideas of Oskar Eustis, the Artistic Director of the Public Theater. One idea mentioned was the fact that the American theater should go the way of the American public libraries. Free for all. As talked about all over the theater scene the budget to run the American theaters is a drop in the hat of the national budget. I appreciated that he made sure to say that this was not going to get any artists rich, but that it would be a healthy alternative to the capitalistic view that is running the current non-profit theater system.

Naturally he used the example of the Delacorte theater in Central Park. The current play Hamlet received bad reviews from the New York Times, but is still “selling out” shows because of the very fact the tickets are free and the production value is of quality. He presented to the Public’s board the idea of having free tickets for the shows in the downtown space. The board could not imagine such a thing. Which brought Eustis to the crux of his point. That ideology will always trump experience. Experience says that when tickets are free people will come to the Public’s productions, but the ideology says that theater can not be run on this model as it has to make money and there are no other options but to sell tickets. Eustis said the national ideology surrounding how theater is run in America must change. He has hope because the current administration in the big institutional theaters will soon be gone and the next generation can “take them over” and issue reform. He also wanted to make clear that the current state of American theater needs some respect. The current theaters were not there fifty-sixty years ago and therefore the current situation is better than the options back then. Eustis seems to have his feet in both worlds. He is one that has experience with the current institutional theater model but also realizes that change is needed and that change can only happen from the inside. He is an artist and an administrator in the best sense of each of the words. This balance of both minds is needed if there is hope in ushering a new ideology for the American theater.

Technorati Tags: Mike Daisey, How Theater Failed America, Oskar Eustis, Public Theater, Hamlet, NYU, Steinhardt, Educational Theater

The Portland Mercury has reported that local company Artist Repertory Theater announced the creation of an resident acting company. The current company will consist of four actors with the goal of increasing the number of actors to eight. It is a step in the right direction, but there is so much more that needs to happen. The article continues saying:

The outsourcing conversation feels particularly relevant on the heels of the Drammys. Most of the awards given to Portland Center Stage went to people who were brought in from elsewhere, which kind of strikes me as complete bullshit. It’s no commentary on the quality of the work PCS was honored for I sure can’t argue with the Outstanding Production nod to Twelfth Night, for example,but if you’re going to insist that these are local theater awards and not allow any touring productions or non-locally produced shows to compete, where’s the logic in then recognizing what is essentially touring talent, brought in from New York to work on a single project?

The news has come on the heals of the recent National Performing Arts Convention in Denver. There Mike Daisey presented How Theater Failed America. As Rick St. Peter writes in the blog Actors Guild of Lexington the show was attended by some major figures in the regional theatre field in the audience, including Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, Actors Theatre of Louisville Artistic Director Marc Masterson, Alliance Theatre Artistic Director Susan Booth, current TCG executive director Theresa Eyering and former TCG executive director Ben Cameron.

Dr. Scott Walters who is back to blogging also attended the conference at came away with some interesting insight. He goes on to write that actors need to concern themselves with the information and data involving the American theater. The administrators and board members that hold power are concerned with the data and the lack of knowledge diminishes the power of the artist.

Mike Daisey, who brilliantly performed How Theatre Failed America here in front of the assembled administrators, rightly condemns the low status of actors on the regional theatre scene, but there is also truth to the idea that their status is low because they have given away their power by not being knowledgeable about broader issues than the latest theatre gossip, and not being willing to educate themselves on the issues and speak their mind together to demand change. They fear repercussions, yes, but they also avoid engaging anything but the most insular issues.

We in higher education must do something to change this know-nothing orientation. Instead of giving semester-long classes in auditioning, we need to empower our actors to take control of their art form, develop entrepreneurial skills, understand the context of their art form within the larger culture and economy, and become powerful, engaged artists who will not allow themselves to be manipulated and exploited.

It will be exciting to see what discussions (and hopefully actions) will come out of the conference in Denver. Most of the time I feel these voices that cry out for change will remain only that and very little action will be taken. Hopefully Portland is the start of something much bigger.

Technorati Tags: portland mercury, artists repertory theater, mike daisey, how theater failed america, national performing arts convention, paula vogel, marc masterson, susan booth, scott walters

I saw How Theater Failed America last weekend and LOVED it! The one man show was hilarious, thoughtful, critical and touching. There are numerous reviews so I will not repeat what is already out there. It is running two more weeks at the Barrow Street Theater. GO SEE IT!! I will be attending the last two roundtable discussions and will post more about them soon.

In discovering more about Mike and his shows I came across this video. This is old news for most of the theater world as this event happened April of 2007, but since I was in a black hole last year I figured I would share with the people who have not heard. Mick Montgomery does a good job of blogging about similar experiences with Christian audiences. Performing in similar situations I too am not surprised about the reaction because unfortunately there are a lot of people that don’t think outside their own fears, but what I am surprised about is that the audience had prior knowledge.

Reading Daisey’s blog posts about the incident it is revealed that the Christian choir group called ahead and asked if there was adult content. Usually when there is an adult content claim it is because the F-word is used and/or there is usually reference to sex. If the adult chaperone’s were still not sure they should have asked what was the nature of the adult content. Just because you disagree with someone’s work dis not mean you can leave sensitivity behind. I congratulate Daisey on taking the high road and embracing a situation that was completely ridiculous and absurd.

Technorati Tags: mike daisey, invincible summer, theater, theatre, mick montgomery, How Theater Failed America

Monday I start a new chapter in my graduate school education. I will be starting the educational theatre program at the Steinhardt school at New York University.

The NYU program emphasizes the applications of theatre in a range of community and educational settings, with concentrated study in drama education, applied theatre, and play production for artists and educators. The program is recognized as a national and global leader in theatre and drama education; artist-in-residence strategies; theatre for and by young people. They produce plays year-round with accompanying workshops and applied theatre projects in the Black Box Studio, the Provincetown Playhouse, and community venues. The program has recently committed to a prison theatre project in New York where our students have opportunities to devise and implement work in the most challenging of environments.

The program offers teacher certification degrees at the B.S. and M.A. levels. Here, students are trained as theatre educators and are placed in field settings with cooperating mentors. As well, students can take the M.A. and Ph.D (Educational Theatre for Colleges and Communities) where they explore and research the power of theatre in a range of contexts. I will be taking the MA course for Colleges and Communities. This means that I will only have to take 36 units (three semesters) of classes verses the two year program in which the second year is spent on a working towards a teaching credential.

As I plan to still work full time during these three semesters, most of the classes I will be taking will be at night. The two night classes offered during the summer are Problems in Play Production: The Development of New Plays and Drama Education I. Each run for three weeks Monday through Thursday. I will also be taking a one unit two day course entitled Exploring Social Issues and Conflict Resolution through Drama.

Problems in Play Production: The Development of New Plays is the first class I will be taking. The course is described as studying theories and methods of play development including script analysis, rehearsals and presentation of works-in-progress. Development of student written scenes through in class performances and an overview of recent scripts and new trends in theatre for young audiences. This class follows the rehearsal process of staged readings of the New Plays for Young Audiences. Three plays will each rehearse for a week and then performed for the public that weekend.

At first I was precarious taking a class in “Children’s Theater”. I have not seen a lot of children’s theater and what I have seen did not interest me too much. Reading through the assigned articles for the first class I came across an article by Maja Ardal that I really enjoyed. In it she describes that there should not be “Children’s Theater”, but plays that can interest adults and tell stories that young audiences can relate and connect with. In describing the play of I Claudia by Kristen Thompson she says,

Thompson created a work from the depths of her passion and imagination that happened to connect with a broad range of ages. She did not plan the production for young people, and so her material was never tailored or compromised to attract and suit students and families. It simply did. That is the perfect scenario, yet I believe it is almost impossible to achieve in a theatre that only has a relationship with parents and teachers, because the TYA [Theatre for Young Audiences] theatre is utterly dependent on the attendance of young people.

She goes on to explain about a show that was written for a children’s theater in Toronto. It was recognized by colleagues and with awards, but since it started at a children’s theater people did not come to see it. It moved to an adult theater and the audiences showed up. The adults would either bring their children or once they saw it realize their kids would enjoy it as much as they did and would come back with their familes. “The city of Calgary was represented at the theatre! This was, in my opinion, the perfect theatre experience. The play was successful because it was produced by adult theatre companies. It became a ‘Theatre’ and not an ‘Educational’ experience.”

Ardal sees a clear reason for this. She goes on to explain that a mixed audience is the perfect atmosphere for children to learn and that the play does not need to control all the details of work on stage in fear that the children’s moral lives are at stake.

Children are not literal-minded as many would have us believe. They understand metaphor and they understand imagery. They understand that theatre is an experience to reflect upon, not to obey, that theatre is an imagery world of ‘what if’ and not the ‘only world’. We need to show children the messy aspects of life. As artists we are not here to answer. We are here to question, and to invite our audience to question with us.

This article gave me hope that this class will be something that I will enjoy. If the discussions are anything like this article than I think I will fit right in.

Technorati Tags: educational theatre, steinhardt, new york university, nyu, provincetown playhouse, maja ardal

The video is titled “Good Taste”, but I think of it more as creative perseverance. I think Ira Glass is talented and This American Life, the radio show he hosts, is one of my favorites. It is great to hear a small example of his artistic growth.

Technorati Tags: ira glass, you tube, creative, perseverance, good taste

FinicialTimes.com is reporting that a Cook County judge issued a gag order to be placed on a number of Chicago theater bloggers. The gag orders barrs all parties from publicly discussing a case of blogger Rebecca Zellar potentially suing another theatre blogger Don Hall over a bad review. The original post and comments at the GreyZelda site have been removed but FT.com recovered comments from the ghost post “A Brief Public Statement.”

Chicago bloggers directly under the jurisdiction of the court order include Devilvet, GreyZelda, Paul Rekk, Don Hall, Trailing Spouse Blues, Nick Keenan, and Jay Raskolnikov.

I went and read Don Hall’s review of GreyZelda Theater Company’s production of The Striker directed by Rebecca Zellar. There one can get an idea of the tensions rising between Zellar and Hall. Then Jay Raskolnikov writes a post about Hall’s review and states “the director lashed out in the comments.” This starts a heated discussion on his blog. I say heated, but I am not sure if all this justifies a lawsuit. I hope things get resolved peacefully as this is the darker side of the theatrosphere.

Technorati Tags:chicago, theatre, theater, Don Hall, Rebecca Zellar, Paul Rekk, Jay Raskolnikov, GreyZelda Theater Company, theatrosphere