RAT Lurking online

[Allison Narver <anarver@yahoo.com>]

I guess I need to fess up and admit that I've sort of
been a lurker on this list.  As one of the folks at
the first Iowa conference I'm always really interested
in what RAT is talking about.  And yeah, maybe I am
kinda voyeuristic-- it's one of the things that I love
about doing theater.  I watch and listen alot.  I
consider it part of my job as a director.  And I think
it's appropriate and fine to not always jump in and
start yelling my opinion.  This is a public list. 
People can lurk if they choose or respond if they
choose.  
And as for voyeurism...forgive me if I'm wrong, but is
it really voyeurism if I sit quietly and watch a
public event unfold?  IT's one thing to watch private
acts unfold and not tell anyone you're doing it, it's
entirely something else to sit quietly and listen to
public debate.
Part of my job is to loudly and publically express my
values and my opinion.  I don't feel like doing it all
of the time.  Is it really a problem if I don't
respond to the majority of things posted on this list?

All for now.
Love,
Allison
--- The Independent Eye <bards@independenteye.org>
wrote:
> Bobby wrote about people. . .
> >emailing to me directly rather than posting on the
> RATlist.  In so doing, a
> >good few stated their desire not to post on the
> RATlist because they didn't
> >care to get "...shouted down by the youth
> movement."
> 
> 	A couple of thoughts on this.
> 
> 	First, the value of good vocal training, or the
> equivalent -
> playing in high school auditoriums at 9 a.m. - is
> that you can out-shout
> any sonofabitch within 40 miles, if need arises. 
> Need does arise.
> 
> 	Second, flames are part of theatre, sad though it
> be.  The critics
> diss us; we diss the critics and other theatres,
> especially those with more
> money.  The more we regard ourselves as an
> oppressed, unappreciated class,
> the more violent we are in our interchanges.  It's a
> learned mannerism with
> some people to state fifty ways that someone else is
> full of shit as a
> means of establishing their own claim to talent. 
> (It doesn't have to be
> that way.  There can be kindness, and wonderful
> things can grow out of a
> discussion stimulated by a really dumb comment.) 
> But it's strange to be
> working in theatre if you're unwilling to open
> yourself to flames, rants,
> and plain vile stupidity.  Myself, I've been
> insulted by some very talented
> people, trashed in the New York Times, fired by an
> academic, and once
> literally stoned with rocks and beer cans by an
> audience.  It comes with
> the territory.
> 
> 	Third, the "youth movement" I'm acquainted with are
> focused on
> building a new vision through their work, not
> shouting anybody down.  I
> haven't been on the list for long, so I'm not
> speaking to specifics, but
> it's hard for me to believe that flamers are part of
> any "movement," except
> perhaps peristalsis.
> 
> 	Myself, I enjoy chit-chat, though long ago gave up
> any attempt to
> do it, and I enjoy substantive posts, and I enjoy
> knowing what people are
> doing and what stake they have in what they're
> saying.  Being on a pretty
> diverse group of listservs, I think there's no way
> to create the perfect
> listserv.  The way to make it more like what we want
> is to post more stuff
> that's like what we want, find affinities with
> particular people, ignore
> what you don't like, and realize that it's not
> flames, it's electrons
> splattering on a screen (anyway I think that's the
> way it works).  On the
> listserv of our neo-pagan tribe, kibitzing a truly
> harmful flamewar, I
> proposed a "Conrad Bishop is an asshole" contest -
> offering a prize for the
> most inventive insult anyone could inflict on me. 
> The war dissolved.
> Flames are just flash paper.  The RAT list will
> become more interesting to
> the degree that we're all interested in one another.
> 
> 	Anyway, Bobby, thanks for your post.  Hope things
> are going well at
> the Project.  We'll be back East in April; hope you
> can come up and see our
> show in Philly.
> 
> Peace & joy-
> Conrad
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Visit The Independent Eye's website
> at <http://www.independenteye.org>.
> 
> 
> 
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com