www.nashvillescene.com: Early on a recent Monday morning, a group of high school students is gathered at the Global Education Center on Charlotte Avenue. They lean over drawings and canvases with paintbrushes and pens in hand. Aaron Gardner, a junior at East Nashville Magnet High School, sits beside the painting he’s just completed. It depicts two African American youths shackled together by their necks. Black straps criss-cross their faces, bearing words like hopeless, suspect, broken, voiceless and guilty.
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Theater is so often seen as one of the most progressive art forms in the world, constantly pushing boundaries and trying new things. While this is true in the abstract, a closer examination reveals how far behind the theatrical world is also. This is demonstrated in a multitude of ways, from season selection, to casting, to advertising. One of the most grievous issues with a lack of modernity in the theater world is the selection of a season of shows at many regional theaters. Shows are rarely picked because they are new, and offering something different, but instead because they are safe and offer the promise of a profit for producers. The profit hungry energy of large, professional theaters has trickled down to small, regional theaters across the country. This has led to shows like "Mary Poppins" being selected as opposed to "Ghost" because it is sure to bring in stable profit. Our job as artists, particularly theatrical artists, is to offer a new experience to an audience, unlike anything they have witnessed before, and not to become entirely consumed with the profit. We have so few opportunities in our life to present something truly groundbreaking, why should we pass up those opportunities to present something safe, even if we are tempted to be blinded by the potential revenue.
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