AMERICAN THEATRE: As a new generation of artistic directors start their jobs leading long-running institutions and taking on the role of leaders both in their communities and nationally, we asked them where they hope to see the theatre field a decade from now. These new a.d.s span the nation; some have already started their new jobs, while others begin this summer. All are coming in both optimistic and clear-eyed, and all have very specific visions.
3 comments:
I’m so happy that I choose to read this article because it makes me optimistic for the future of thheatre and excites me that I am early enough in my career that I’ll be able to see how this industry is going to develop. When you look at this new group of artistic directors I think you can’t help to get excited when you hear about there vision for ten years down the line, or at least I can’t help but get excited because their vision aligns with what I also hope to see. Many of them hit on similar hope for the future, a prevalent theme being the overall diversity and inclusion in the industry getting to a point where it isn’t even remarkable for certain people to be in certain positions, in addition to working to make theatre more accessible for audiences as well. One of the Artistic directors talked about something that I personally relate to strongly is setting the foundation for success for those after me, the true desire for my ceiling to be their floor and to have the impact of improving things where I go. This overall mentality can translate to growth in the industry and we’ve come far but I’m so ready to push even farther.
Like Lauren, I find this article very hopeful for the industry to come. I loved reading what all these new and young artistic directors want to do with theatre. Melia Bensussen says a great point about how new leadership and organizational structures is really what is going to great change in the industry and not just hiring diverse leaders. I find it very interesting the A.D.s who talk about financial wellbeing for the theatres as I feel this is something that can’t be controlled. Two things this article makes me think about is institutional memory and the phrase “I’ve worked here for blank amount of years.” and the second thing is what is happening at Pittsburgh Public Theatre. Dealing with these two thoughts, I think it is great that people celebrate longevity at a company but there is something to be said about never working at a place for more than five or ten years. This keeps companies changing and fresh and different. I understand job stability but I think the most efficient companies run when people are changing out and the flow of ideas change greatly. This article also reminds of how some theatre companies have an older managing director and younger artistic director like at the Public where ½ of the shows are old classics like "Barefoot in the Park" and the other shows are like "African Mean Girls" and "The Cake". This year’s season at the public is comical in its choice of very different types of shows and I’m interested to see other companies do this as it is a smart choice to play to the older richer ticket buyers and newer younger cheaper ticket buyers.
This article surprised me a little bit, mostly just because of the title. I was expecting it to be a technology article with a bunch of artistic directors laying out their visions of fancy and impossible cinematic style effects live on stage. Maybe that speaks more to what I think of than what they do, though. It makes a lot of sense that what artistic directors are looking forward to in the next decade is more management and organization and publicity related than technology related. That’s the purview of designers and technicians. I was still a little disappointed because most of the answers were the same. They weren’t necessarily bad answers, but they largely just called for more transparency and diversity and occasionally money or audience appreciation. Those are all very good things. Nothing new. I’m sure that all of these artistic directors are talented individuals, but they’re answers to this question were somewhat obvious and not anything new.
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