WSJ.com: Tony Kushner can't make a living writing for the stage. America's most prominent playwright confessed in an interview published in Time Out New York earlier this year that "Angels in America" doesn't pay the rent: "I make my living now as a screenwriter! Which I'm surprised and horrified to find myself saying, but I don't think I can support myself as a playwright at this point. I don't think anybody does." So far as I know, Mr. Kushner is right. I don't know of any American playwrights who earn the bulk of their living writing plays. Many of the older ones teach, while a growing number of younger ones write for series television. Itamar Moses, for instance, has written for "Boardwalk Empire" and "Men of a Certain Age," which isn't stopping him from turning out stage plays (his latest effort, "Completeness," just closed Off Broadway).
Friday, September 30, 2011
The Playwright's Dilemma
WSJ.com: Tony Kushner can't make a living writing for the stage. America's most prominent playwright confessed in an interview published in Time Out New York earlier this year that "Angels in America" doesn't pay the rent: "I make my living now as a screenwriter! Which I'm surprised and horrified to find myself saying, but I don't think I can support myself as a playwright at this point. I don't think anybody does." So far as I know, Mr. Kushner is right. I don't know of any American playwrights who earn the bulk of their living writing plays. Many of the older ones teach, while a growing number of younger ones write for series television. Itamar Moses, for instance, has written for "Boardwalk Empire" and "Men of a Certain Age," which isn't stopping him from turning out stage plays (his latest effort, "Completeness," just closed Off Broadway).
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7 comments:
I wish that for just one year, all the theatre companies in America stopped their current season and only did new plays, plays written in 2010/2011, and then could return to their normal seasons the following year. The amount of new plays being written that are not being produced because people would rather see something they already know is sad and discouraging. New art should be circulating just as much as the old.
The subject of collaboration is quite an interesting one that is not thought of frequently. I don't see how that could have a huge affect on the live theatre community, since people still would rather just watch TV. But this article does not seem to focus on how to fix the problem of playwrights not being able to make much of a living, but instead seems to focus on why it's worth writing plays even though it is not financially supportive. I particularly enjoyed the similarities drawn between playwrights and novelists. A very interesting article indeed.
I surprisingly found this article pretty inspiring. Although it revolved around the fact that strictly being a theatre playwright will not earn you enough money to survive, this article displayed the amount of passion it takes to make a life out of what you love. The interconnectivity of theatre and screenwriting is so close that it might even allow you to spread your wings and bring new light to your playwriting. If we remain strong and committed to the art we love, a life will make its way through the crazy world.
I have never thought about the fact that playwrights do not make enough money to live on. I know theatre doesn't always pay well but it is a bit shocking that even Tony Kushner can't support himself on theatre alone. I did like the point in the article about writing being a lonely field and that the company provided by the interactive part of workshopping new plays makes it all worthwhile. I guess I always thought of writers as solitary but not as lonely. I also agree with Sophie's point that more theatres should try to support new plays.
I found this article very interesting, but I also found it a little bit sad that the author seems to accept the fact that playwrights will never again be able to support themselves solely from writing plays, even if their work becomes as successful as Angels in America. I agree with his assertion that writing plays is still worthwhile and valuable, but it strikes me as a little strange that he doesn't attempt to come up with a solution to the problem that it is not longer seen as something that one can do for a living. I also really liked the comparison between playwrights and novelists, since I've never really thought about the difference in that way before.
Not being able to make a full time career from theatre alone is a sad reality for many people who work in theatre, not only playwrights. I found it very interesting and somewhat discouraging that even Tony Kushner could not make a living writing for theatre alone. This is why I like Signature Theatre Company and the work that they do with playwrights and also their new initiative of working with new, young playwrights to produce their new work. I think that this is a very insightful article; I just wish the writer had stated ways in which they thought the playwright could avoid the dilemma.
After researching the writing profession and seeking to follow it as a career some day, I find this article to be retelling the "oldest story in the book". The writer has been the most overlooked and under-appreciated artisan in our career since the dawn of the dramatic medium. most writers cant survive on their writing , it just doesn't pay enough, namely due to its oversight by most investors in the entertainment industry. the fact that we choose to pay over 90% of budgets to two people and the writer is commonly paid on average between .5-3% is what is off about the industry. yet most writers are thankful to get paid at all.
I know that it's sad that playwrights aren't making a living doing just theater anymore but some of the TV shows they write for are really great show with innovative plots and interesting characters. Especially if you get a show on HBO. HBO does a great job of creating really intriguing and different types of shows. "Boardwalk Empire" is a great show that I've seen only a couple of times but I want to become a frequent viewer of. Just because playwrights can't just write for theater doesn't mean that their talent is wasted. And if they write for TV shows and films more people can see their work like it should be shown. Performed not read. I do hope that they can still write for theater but it's not a complete tragedy that that's not the only thing they do. Even if it is for money.
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