RAT Conference: Intergenerational Panel

[Cathryn616@aol.com]

Hey all! So, the other students and I got together tonight to discuss the 
idea of the intergenerational panel at the conference. here are some of our 
ideas/thoughts/questions...
first off, having never been to a RAT conference before, what are the 
"panels" like? we were thinking of something more informal, along the lines 
of a roundtable discussion where we can throw ideas back and forth....
the main topic that we tackled was the idea of a generation gap in theatre. 
cat, i know that this is a question that you raised, but why do people 
believe that there is a generational gap? after much discussion, we believe 
it is more of a geographical and ideological gap. 
By geographical gap, we mean that, since we live in NYC, we see theatre done 
by people of our generation all the time. We try to see as much as we can, 
everything from the downtown shows to broadway (at a discounted price, of 
course). We don't really see much of a generational gap because we see people 
who we do shows with work with the same ethic as the RAT network does. Most 
people in our generation tend to flock to New York and other big cities that 
have large theatre communities. Could it be that other people see a 
"generational" gap because the young generation of theatre lovers doesn't 
exist in other cities? Do the RATs in NY also feel that there is a 
generational gap? Or could it just be that maybe younger people aren't as 
prominent because they all try to start in NYC?
Another question that arose during this location discussion was: does the 
luxury of being able to play around and do experimental theatre come from the 
fact that there is already a foundation of conventional theatre? One of the 
students is from Cincinnati, and she was saying that there are some small 
theatre companies that are being formed now, but they are doing only 
conventional plays because they need to build a theatre community base. So, 
could it be that there are young people who WANT to do "RAT like" theatre in 
these places, but just can't because the community might not be ready for it?
We also think that there is an ideological gap. We feel connected with the 
RAT network because of the morals and standards that it stands for. Not all 
of us want to end up doing some big, commercial show one day. A lot of us are 
in it more for the art than anything else. If anything, there is more of a 
gap between us and the "broadway types" than us and the older generations. 
does that make sense?
One of the questions that was raised was how young people see theatre and 
what we expect from it. Are you talking about the contents of a play, the 
tactics used to put on the play, or the whole shebang? 
Personally, I am curious of how fellow RATS perceive the younger generation. 
For some reason, I have been feeling a semi-negative vibe. do you think that 
young people see downtown shows for the sake of being cool? or do 
experimental shows, "cool" shows for the sake of being cool and artisty? i 
would really like to hear people's opinions of this...
so, there it is. just thought it might be a good jumping off point to try and 
organize a discussion around...

Cathy



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