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RE: RAT Money, value and art
Ok:
First off,
One of my points was meant to be that I couldn't judge voluntary
poverty because I'm not doing it right now, and frankly, I kinda
like my computer, cable TV, Air Conditioning.....
What frustrates me is the schism betwenn praxis and practice. Go be
voluntarily poor. Great. Have the experience- learn. Then you have
the clout to tell me that I should give up my belongings and change
my life. My irritation is when plainly Middle-class people tell me
that I should be voluntarily poor as an act of solidarity. By the
act of being on the RAT-List, owning or having access to a computer,
we are all at least middle-class, whether it's in upbringing or
currently. For me , recommending a life I don't lead is hypocrisy
and I can't do it. Genet's point was much the same: all of the
protesters who thought they were representing disadvantaged America
were actually representing their idea of disadvantaged America, as
disadvantaged America ( by its very name) lacked the possibility of
getting to the protest in the first place.
The problem with most theatre artists is that we consider ourselves
disadvantaged when we're not. We sit at the table and beg for scraps
when we should be out building a new house- our house. I did a 5
week residency in Germany with the Living Theatre. While I was
there, I asked the organizer why they felt a need to bring us from
the US- why not use a German company? Like who, he asked?? Pina
Bausch, I replied. He said," They charge for a weekend what you
charge for a month", and walked away. Yes, we got the opportunity to
do our work and get paid- at the same time, we were played like a
violin.
WE UNDERVALUE OURSELVES TERRIBLY. Chris, although you'd take the $
5,000.00- you're worth a lot more- and you shouldn't be afraid to ask
for it. Nay, demand it.
I think that many smaller theatres take this attitude of voluntary
poverty- feeling that the only way to preserve artistic integrity is
to be out of the "blood money " cycle.
This is a nice theory until one considers the repercussions.
Suppose, theoretically, that I have a playwright friend who has a
new play that I want to do. The piece, while small, is technically
difficult, and one role seems to call for an equty actor, simply due
to its difficulty. But wait- we have no money to pay an equity
actress. Ok- I'll settle for someone who isn't quite right, but
also comes free.
Rehearsals go better than I had hoped- I'm rather excited- until I
discover that the advertising budget has dropped out. I can't get a
story in the newspaper because no one's ever heard of the play, the
actors, the playwright or the director- and all I have are postcards.
So, through word of mouth, I get 10 people a night to see the
wonderfully intriguing play that runs for 3 weeks. This story hasn't
happened yet- it's simply my waking nightmare.
Question:
Has any purpose been served by doing that production? Was it useful
toi the actors, me as the director, the playwright? Is it of any
use to put something up simply to do it? Because we swettle for
voluntary theatrical poverty , this kind of story gets repeated too
many times.
What I want from RAT:
For us to infest the world with Radical work. To be a force in the
American cultural dialogue. To be denounced on the senate floor on
C-Span as a "major force in the weakening of the American Moral
Fiber."
To be banned in 35 states and 3 countries. To have our pictures up
in post offices: WANTED for acts of treason against American
cultural hegemony. I want us all to be outlaws. To do this we have
to be giants- we have to dare to be as powerful as the system we
despise- but focus that power in another way- power with, not power
over.
As long as the system stands , and money is conflated with value-
everyone on this list deserves to make their living as an artmaker.
We are that valuable to society, whether they know it or not.
Our task is making them know it.
La Luccha Continua,
brad