WSJ: The most revealing news of the 2019-20 theatrical season was the announcement last month of a pair of big-ticket revivals, Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?” and David Mamet’s “American Buffalo,” both of which are set to open on Broadway next April. What made it so noteworthy is that “Virginia Woolf,” first performed in 1962, has already been done there four times, most recently in 2012-13, while “American Buffalo,” first performed in 1975, has been done three times, most recently in 2008.
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I completely understand the perspective in which Terry Teachout writes this article from and I understand the balance in which new plays and classics need to maintain. At the same time, I do feel that the classics need to stay where they are supposed to be (in the past). Most of the classical cannon is dominated by white male plays and is at this time and age not beneficial to upcoming theater artists. The audience that patronizes shows is also changing, most of the old group is dying off (I have no other words to describe it). Theater is facing a changing climate and it needs to keep up. I do believe that there can be educational benefits from studying the cannon and understanding where and how far we have come. But I also think that if we keep reviving the classics, we are not giving opportunities for new plays to become classics in the future. I don't think this is cutting oneself away from tradition but reshaping its definition and what tradition is.
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