New York Theater: Below is the list of the most-produced plays compiled by American Theatre Magazine of member theaters of Theatre Communications Group (in other words, non-profit theaters throughout the United States) — excluding Shakespeare’s plays and A Christmas Carol, (which are always first.)
4 comments:
I am actually really surprised that I have not worked on any of the top produced plays of this year. I worked for a major regional theatre for five years and the closest I’ve gotten to any of those plays is “Clybourne Park”, which is the spin-off of “Raisin in the Sun.” On the other hand, it makes sense that plays that seem relevant and necessary to tell differ from year to year. The playwrights, on the other hand seem like they would be more stable throughout time. I have worked on shows by many of them, but certainly not all. I am excited to explore these new authors, especially the four women on the list! It is sadly not surprising that there are so few women, but awesome that the top playwright of the year is a women! I find it really interesting that there are two Jane Austin related plays that make the top ten list. What is it about her stories that endure for so long? And what about the current time we are in that makes people want to hear these stories about manners and being constrained by society?
Broadway shows will always get big headlines and press, but it is also very interesting to see what the average American theatre is producing. I love that right at the beginning of the article they add the disclaimer that they don’t include Shakespeare or A Christmas Carol because they always come in first. I guess that in and of itself says a lot about local theatre (and how they tend to play it safe). I however, was pleasantly surprised to see the diversity in the most produced plays and playwrights. Not just in the writers, but also in the stories being told. Of course, the majority are still so called ‘classics’ written by white men, but its slowly getting better. I hope producers from commercial and not-for-profit theatres alike read articles like these and see how increasingly popular diverse shows are becoming. Because the commercial theatre industry won’t change until it’s consumers demand diverse content.
My biggest issue I take with this article is that they severely under sample theatres across America. Also, they rely on submissions by theaters that are members of the organization. In digging a little deeper I found that in 2004 there were 1,500 theatres in the country. With the way the arts have been growing over the past few years, one could say that that number has either grown or been maintained since the recession. This is data I was able to find from the same group conducting the results wherein 2004 they only had a membership of 258 of those 1,500. This is only a 17% representation. This is why I would be sure to caution anyone on how true they hold these resulted since they are only considering about 17-20% of the theatres in the country. (www.tcg.org/pdfs/advocacy/FieldGlance04) Here is the 2004 report if anyone wants to have a look.
I'm definitely glad to see a couple of playwrights of color on that list, including Pittsburgh's own, August Wilson.
I am however confused about the sample size that was used. It seems very odd that so many people would be putting on Fun Home as well as Shakespeare in Love. Both of those pieces seem pretty tailored to a specific audience for so many theatres to be putting them on.
I am really encouraged that A Raisin in the sun is being so widely produced. It is by a woman from Chicago who reminds me greatly of many of the black queer women that I love and care for back home. Obviously it is her most famous text in the theatre world but it still warms my heart that a story of blackness surrounding the growing pains that come with class is being produced so often.
I'll definitely be looking out for this list again next year. I hope some more diversity is added to the list.
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