The rant goes something like this: Realism, as a genre, has ossified. It is now simply about upper-middle-class white (and/or Jewish) New Yorkers discovering dark family secrets while cracking the occasional joke that undermines the supposed seriousness of the dramatic material. And, for some reason, these realist plays are always set in living rooms! In fact, as soon as I walk into a theatre and see a couch onstage, I start to fall asleep! We must break the chains of realism! If only subscribers didn’t like it so much! Theatre should be theatrical, not a purveyor of expensive, second-rate television!
4 comments:
When reading this article, I could think about nothing except ‘the great american living room’ play, God of Carnage. I saw God of Carnage maybe two years ago at my friend’s high school, and he was the kind of friend who tells me nothing about what he’s working on in order to give me a genuine reaction to what he brings me to. And let me tell you, it was one of the truest experiences I’ve ever had in a theatre. God of Carnage reminds me of what this article talks about, deconstructing the great american living room and showing the true animosity of people and their families. I never thought such deep subject matter could be achieved in a living room play, but I was wrong and this revolution of the new age great american living room plays will hopefully lead to many like God of Carnage, and maybe more satirical ones as well.
I am very guilty of rants against realism. I share the belief that realism is what movies are for, and that theatre has the ability, and therefore the responsibility to push beyond the constraints of what already exists. I don't like repetition, and the churning out of shows that look and sound and feel the same feels like a waste.
That said, I recognize the place that realistic theatre holds in the theatrical lexicon. It is part of a great tradition, and more than that it is a type of theatre that feels accessible to the average person. While it is not really my cup of tea, theatre the resonates within people's own lives is important for the average theatre goer to experience. I encourage theatre in all of it's forms (the more the better), and I accept that realistic living room dramas are a popular framework. Regardless of my own feelings on the matter, these plays are excellent at capturing the human experience, even if it does tend to be for a very narrow subset of individuals.
As the "experimental director," I am very anti-realism unless it says something new, or says it in a way that is new. I have seen many a show, including new works, with a box set that seems derivative of the one before it. That being said, I usually appreciate Signiture's work and their new play may just bring something new to the table.
54-102 :: A
I see the point that the article is making, about living room plays becoming boring and predictable, but I think that the article shouldn’t equate living room plays and box sets. Yes, these plays are typically set in living room sets because they are very realistic plays, but just because these plays can sometimes (or often, depending on the person) be boring, it’s not the fault of the set. I’ve seen living room plays that I thought were great. As Kim said above, God of Carnage is a really good play. The production I saw was set in a living room, but the set wasn’t that good. It didn’t have a budget, so it was just a generic living room, but it was okay because the acting and story itself could stand on their own. There have been other box set plays that I have seen though where the set is just beautiful. I remember last year when CMU put on You Can’t Take It With You, when the curtain went up and revealed the play the audience applauded the set for a good 15 seconds. It was that beautiful. I don’t see the problem with well-done, highly detailed box sets. Designers who are great at them have a way of making the standard living room set look different and reflect exactly what the play is about while still designing a realistic living room. It’s a different kind of design, in which everything is in the details and the flow of the space. Just because it’s realistic though doesn’t mean it’s any less artistic. Yeah, these plays about the same middle class white family finding out some secret while sitting in a living room are kind of boring, but that is not the fault of the set. I really like cool sets that make use of automation and space and changing the way we see things, but I’m also a sucker for beautiful, classy box sets.
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