|
But there's a lot of bad expensive mainstream
theatre out there, too. Why are people so quick to give up on the
experimental theatre but will keep going back to the tried and true, even when
it fails them?
My partner bought me a ticket to see
Rent for my birthday a couple of years ago. I wanted to
see it SO badly and then when I did I was SO disappointed. When it was
good it was sublime. But in places I just hated it. It's almost a
blasphemy to say anything bad about Rent--in both "mainstream" and "alternative"
circles. But at its worst, it represented everything to me that is
terrible about musicals and mainstream theatre. Wooden characters.
Terrible dialogue. Its best moments seemed to always be in the music, not
in the theatre of the piece.
But it's always the small theatres &
groups--frequently ones that are trying things out with varying degrees of
success--that are blamed for driving people from the theatre.
Frankly, the pieces that I frequently find the
most self-indulgent even among indy theatre, are the ones that the local critics
and audiences seem to love. I frequently find them to be overly easy,
frequently expressing situations that have been done to death but which the
audience can identify with or feel self-satisfied about, etc.
Personally, I can live with a production that
is "unsuccessful" but makes an attempt at something. My motto is that even
bad art is instructive, because it makes you think about what you didn't like
about it and what might have worked better.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 10:54
PM
Subject: Re: RAT, The dramaturgy
of...
People always talk about how the "main stream audience" is lazy
and not adventurous...But alot of these people have gone out to see fringe or
alternative stuff and just been disappointed by bad and/or self indulgent
theatre. I think we can all agree that there is alot of disappointing work out
there. I can throw a rock outta my bedroom window in NY and hit a bad play for
gods sake. We can't just blame them.
*caden
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=
caden manson
big art
group
212-726-1161
http://www.bigartgroup.com
Winner: Citysearch.com
Audience Award for NYC Best Theatre Company
2000
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
on 1/17/01 11:22 PM,
Laura Winton at fluffysingler@prodigy.net wrote:
I agree. And I don't despise the "mainstream audience" per
se, but I get disgusted with people for settling. On a personal level,
I am continually disappointed by people in even the most basic day to day
interactions. Not because I think they suck or I think they're idiots.
But because I know people CAN be so much better than they're
frequently willing to be.
That's my feeling about art and theatre.
It CAN be so much more than just entertaining. I still
believe in all that crap about theatre and ritual and how we can have
transformative experiences. Again--it's not about art being "good for
you" so we have to sugar coat it so you can tolerate it. Theatre can
be transformative. It's depressing when people settle for
less.
That's when we all start going "fuck 'em" and do what WE want
to do.
How do we make a theatre worthy of its audience? --Julian
Beck
Laura
Winton
fluffysingler@prodigy.net
www.karawane.org
<http://www.karawane.org>
----- Original Message -----
From: adam shive
<mailto:ashive@ucla.edu>
To:
rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001
10:08 PM
Subject: Re: RAT, The dramaturgy of...
I always
try to remember that the mainstream audience that I despise so
much as
a pre-defined "marketing group" is actually made up of individuals.
We
do a disservice to them and ourselves if we accept the same
marketing
labels as Disney (although they look at that mainstream
demographic with
lust, as opposed to our small theatre love/hate).
The question for me is,
how do I reach past the long arm of
Corporate
America?
Julia
|