Friday, October 16, 2009
Noises off: Australian theatre should get real
guardian.co.uk: "G'day! And welcome to a Noises Off Australia special. Two major rows have blown up for Aussie theatre bloggers of late, and so this week I'm digging down under to find out what has got everyone so upset."
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4 comments:
I realize that its hard to analyze a situation like this without being a part of it, but seriously blaming people for the lack of women directors hired seems a bit absurd. I know that in various workplaces it is an issue, but I haven't heard of it like this before. I guess it is relatively unusual to hear of women directors, it is much more common for them to be male. But looking at even our freshman group of directors, its evenly split, if not more girls than boys.
Bouncing off Sylvianne's comment, I wonder truly how much of the choice of only 2 female directors is out of discrimination, conscious or unconscious, and how much is just coincidence. I'm a proponent of choosing the right director for the right play, and it's very possible that the women who would've liked to direct in this season were simply not the best directors or the best choices for the season's plays. If the theatre companies bend to this, it's almost like creating a sexist affirmative action program, and that will only breed more argument of whether a woman is truly the best for the show or if she is just a "token female" chosen to fulfill quota. Let the theatre companies choose who they will to direct the shows, and if there's a string of five seasons without a single female director, maybe we should worry about it.
On the other point of this article, I agree with the author of the article that realism is a fantastic style to use for the right types of plays, but that it should not be considered of a higher order than formalistic theatre. Realism can have a profound impact on audience members (a perfect example being Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, one of my current readings), but there is so much that a non-linear or symbolic/metaphoric play can say on its themes.
It's very hard to fairly judge this issue from our standpoint. Maybe these theaters secretly hate women, or maybe they have a very tried-and-true system for selecting directors that has nothing to do with gender and the gender disparity in both theaters was just an unfortunate coincidence. You should seek diversity in many regards when hiring directors so you can get as many different walks of life represented as possible, but you shouldn't hire a member of an underrepresented group simply because he or she is part of an underrepresented group.
I agree with everything that has been said about the issue on women. I am unsure as to how or why people pick up on the gender gap. Personally, that is the last thing I am ever thinking about when I see a show. If one is a theatre critic, I suppose if it is exceptionally conspicuous, then that is something to mention. However, think of the show first, and if need be, think of who the director is, where they are coming from, and why they did what they did. One of those factors can include gender, and that in my opinion would be acceptable. I am not too familiar with the issue the critic brings up, but it seems to be a pretty lame call to a problem the critic cannot fix. Also, no style of theatre is beneath anyone, or at least, no accepted style of theatre, (and by this I mean to exclude off the wall styles invented for student written performances and obscure performance art exhibitions by wannabe artists that serve little purpose). Honestly, every style is there for a reason and should be taken seriously.
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