Monday, April 04, 2011
Defending the Invalid
ATW: "A few times in the past week, I have encountered several people who, unprompted, expressed to me their concern for the future of theatre. I am not sure what prompted this confluence of empathy, but I chose primarily to listen to their dissertations on why theatre was in trouble and why they were worried.
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4 comments:
This is a very encouraging article. There are many posts here about struggling theaters and a dying art it is nice to hear a bit of optimism. This was a lovely defense of theater and I found myself agreeing with nearly every point. Theater so powerful and I confident that the unique experience of live theater will never be replaced. What since I am trading 3 years of my life, my financial stability, and my sanity for a MFA in theater, it will be nice to know that there will be some theater for me to do when I am done.
I completely agree with this article. When I was deciding if I wanted to go to theater school I had a long talk with my dad, and I was just trying to think of the pros and cons, I commented that theater was dying. He said to me that theater has been dying since its conception. There is no way that theater can reach every single person because of its inherent nature. That is why it is great, because you have to physically be in the room to experience it. It's not like turning on the TV you have to be actively engaged. I mean I think the fact that theater is still such a thriving art, what with Broadway and LORT theaters, it is nice also that it has tended to keep it's integrity, at least more then movies. There are shows that are around that were created just to be blockbusters, but at least they are generally trying to push boundaries technically. I would much rather see a production of Marry Poppins then go to see an other American Pie movie. There is some thing inherently classy about theater.
I also found the article encouraging. What was even more interesting to me was Zoe's father's comment about theatre being a perpetually dying art form, constantly unable to appeal to everyone and falling in and out of style depending on the trends of the time. While there is safety for many of the larger houses in the country, I do feel that the theaters who have the most to offer, such as the small regionals and experimental theaters, are the ones who are most in danger of dying out. In a way, the richest of theaters are closing while the spectacle shows like Wicked sell out every night. It's a sort of sad trade off.
He makes a compelling argument for theater's validity and its staying power. However this doesn't address the #supplydemand crisis. Sure there will always be a demand for it, but his first point rings the loudest, especially now: theater is not for everyone. That could be read as, there will be more money for those things instead of theater. While yes, it's nice to know there will always be a demand/urge/desire drive to create theater I have to be a cynic (since I'm here to make a career in it) that this doesn't translate to a healthy/lucrative lifestyle. There will always be a need for teachers, but that doesn't stop teachers salaries from getting cut. I hope you see my analogy: while yes it is extremely uplifting to know that theater will always exist (and I believe it) we should try to focus on these 7 points on how theater should always exist.
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