The New York Times: In 1915, Alice and Irene Lewisohn, two art-mad coal heiresses, opened the Neighborhood Playhouse on an unprepossessing corner of Grand Street, a piece of the Lower East Side that still resists gentrification today. They ran the playhouse for a dozen years, producing a modernist mix of theater, dance and pageant, giving everyone, Irene once said, “a share in the world’s treasures of imagination and poetry.”
4 comments:
I love the idea of the healthy risk involved when producing with space but without money. I think that is exactly what Off-Off-Broadway should be, a place for risk and constructive failure to come home to at the end of the day. The way the Abrons center is described, I feel a sense of safety I do not often feel when I think of the Off-Broadway theatre world. Normally, I find solace in the financial stability of the better-financed Broadway productions of today. However, this article has helped me to remember the alternate safety which comes from having room for failure. With less to lose, artists always gain more. Thus, the Abrons center seems to stand for a type of creativity and uninhibited experimentation which today is a necessity to originality. One must be incredibly resourceful to make anything new these days. Without money, artists are left no choice but resourcefulness. Thus, creativity has room to flourish without the pressure of investment or the fear of loss. What better way to celebrate a century of risk than with further gambling? Wegman is no slouch - there is transcendence in such an act.
It's exciting to see both such dedication to a vision, as well as the growth and development of a institution's vision over time. After a century of operation, evolution of some variety is expected in a theatre such as the Abrons Art Center. But I take great pleasure in hearing how this facility has remained true to its original purpose, without becoming boxed in by one generation's definition or understanding of what this theatre should serve as.
The evolution of the concept of risk has so much bearing on the relevancy of a play in our own lives. Modern conceptualizations of "risk" and "exploratory art" differ widely from those that were established during the Lewisohns' time. I am glad this theatre consistently seeks the frontier, and that the Lewisohn sisters established it with such room to grow. All too frequently, theatre becomes complacent. Institutions that were founded on principles of independent thought, and nurture the broadening and challenging of preexisting perceptions are invaluable, and will be responsible for advancing theatre in the coming decades.
I really enjoy risky theatre. There’s nothing quite like the surprises often associated with theatres that experiment and work in this realm. Especially when they consistently produce cutting edge work like the Abrons Arts Center. I think theatres that regularly push the bounds of what theatre is and what theatre ought to be are true treasures. And when a theatre does this type of work over the course of several decades that really says something about the quality of the work and the message of the theatre. The fact that Jay Wegman often brings in programs and work that he wouldn’t have chosen, speaks even higher of the artistic management philosophy of the Abrons. Places like this don’t usually have to worry about ticket sales, and even if they should, they don’t. They are typically more concerned with the process and the expression of the art. I think the risk, the desire to fail or succeed or fall somewhere in between is admirable. That kind of dedication and mild insanity is what allows theatre to grow and expand, often paving the way for work we never would have imagined. I am making sure to stop by this place on my next trip to New York.
People say that it is easy to take risks when you have nothing to lose. It seems that we, in the arts, tend to risk even when we have things to lose. The risks that we take are not the same, however. Classic shows may do well at some theaters and be big hits, but in other situations these shows my not bring in crowds that are expecting something different. Just the same, people who are expecting classic shows may not appreciate something that is seemed to be out of the box. When we take these risks, it needs to be calculated in such a way that failure is an option. In this case, college theater is the best venue for this. College is the time to experiment, in more ways than one. In most situations, if a college play fails or doesn’t sell tickets, it won’t be the end of the road. Risks need to be taken, otherwise we’ll end up doing the same things, which could be just as detrimental to a theater than taking major risks.
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