Theater News - Mar 25, 2013: Sanford, you got some 'splainin' to do. Annie Baker's The Flick, currently receiving its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons (through April 7) has rankled more than a few audience members with its uncommon length (three hours) and extended moments of onstage silence. So much so that Artistic Director Tim Sanford decided to e-mail 3,000 of the theater's subscribers and offer his rationale in choosing the play, while urging them to stick with Playwrights Horizons for future programming.
"We appreciate that you are taking a risk and putting your faith in us when you sign up with us. We are dependent upon your willingness to take that ride with us. We need you." Sanford wrote, sounding a little bit like a guy who had just been dumped by his girlfriend.
Still, he stood by his decision to produce the play, writing, "Annie had a vision and this production beautifully executes that vision. And at the end of the day, we are a writer's theater and my first responsibility is to that writer."
1 comment:
At first I had admired Playwrights Horizons for taking a huge artistic risk, and standing by their mission to be "writer's theater". However after having read more about the letter the artistic director sent out, discussing how he was unaware of the length of the piece and other major details it seemed more like an apology than anything else. The artistic risk was merely an embarrassing accident. Although he had stated it is neither a defense or an apology, it seems like a cowardly move to attempt to shy away from a work that has been praised by critics as an important piece of theater but does not please everyone in the audience. I wish he wasn't as afraid to make enemies and truly stood by the work for being strong even if it wasn't as popular.
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