Re: RAT, The dramaturgy of...

[jonoh1@juno.com]

Amen. And Fringe Festivals feed this mediocrity. I used to love the idea
of Fringe Festivals. I helped found two of the motherfuckers. Boy am I
sorry I did that. I'd believed naively that more theatre is good theatre.
While that may be true on one hand on the other it simply means it's more
theatre. Or something that passes for theatre. And, since Festivals are
comparitively easy to mount shows in the overwhelming number of
self-indulgent one-person shows, or stand up comedy hours are the
majority of Festival offerings these days. And since most Fests are first
come first serve, any schlub can mount a "show" and have it legitimized
by being mounted in a festival. This, according to most festival
directors, is what makes it "fun". Yeah, well, maybe. But to me, theatre
is about far more than "fun". And in a world where on the fringe level
anything with NAKED, SEX, TITS, PUSSY, COCK, etc in the title will be an
almost guaranteed sell out (and I intend the double meaning) I think we
have a helluva lot more to worry about than whether or not CATS is a
harbinger of the apocolypse. 
Jonathan


On Wed, 17 Jan 2001 23:54:54 -0500 Caden Manson <caden@bigartgroup.com>
writes:
> 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
> 
> 
> 

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