Thursday, April 02, 2015
Williamstown Theatre Festival Announces New Programs
Stage Directions: Williamstown Theatre Festival's New Play Commissioning Program and New Musical Commissioning Program will commission and develop three to five projects annually from playwrights, composers and collaborative devisers from across the career spectrum.
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I love Williamstown, and I'm so excited that they have new programs for new work. Also, Benjamin Scheuer is an amazing writer and performer, and I'm thrilled to see his career exploding right now.
All that said...I find it curious that all of the artists chosen for the residency are from New York/have had successful productions in New York already. Why does it feel like the country's largest new play/musical development programs place so much emphasis on the New York scene? When I worked in New York last summer, I talked to a lot of artists about their experiences in New York versus the rest of the country, and several people talked about the prestige that comes from being a New-York-based artist. One playwright told me that he deliberately relocated from Boston to New York to get more work and to get his work taken more seriously. A director said that she saw New York as an "ultimate test" for whether or not your art is really good; New Yorkers have a million options for entertainment and very little time to take it all in, so if they choose to watch your show, it had better be good. It's the "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere" mentality. It completely makes sense that New York's highly-competative theater scene makes it a barometer for "what's hot" and what shows will really sell.
That said, there are so many artists who may never have the chance to go to New York, or who may simply choose not to make the move. Then there are those who spend years pounding the pavement in New York and can't break into the scene, and on top of that, can't pay the exorbitant bills for a way-too-small apartment and overpriced everything in the city. And there's a very specific social dynamic to living in New York, a very sassy atmosphere and a overstimulated and crowded feel, that a lot of people don't like and don't want to be part of.
The fact is, not everyone CAN make it in New York...but that doesn't mean that they don't write great plays/musicals that do well elsewhere in the country. What can we do to highlight the artists who are doing amazing work outside New York, so that a) they can enjoy the success and recognition they deserve, and b) the greater American theater scene doesn't become a homogenous blend of "New-York-approved" stories and aesthetics?
Certainly, agents need to help promote writers across the country, but it's so hard for writers to get in an agent's office to begin with, which perpetuates the exclusivity in the American theater scene.
While I see the rationale behind the pro-New York mentality, and while I understand how literary managers and artistic directors want to make safe choices on artists who've already had strong successes in difficult arts scenes like New York's, the exclusivity of it all makes me crazy.
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