Re: RAT Reading Series --What Brecht thinks

[brad rothbart <scrdchao@nni.com>]

 Rats,


 I feel that whatever reputation I might have left is being unfairly
sullied, so <sigh>....Once more into the breach.--brad
>I was certainly ready to drop the topic, but here comes another letter from a
>Philly group leader, in defense of Brad Rothbert's cavalier treatment of a
>playwright.

 A philly group leader.. There is no philly group.  Though I thank Eileen
for her spirited defense,  I have read her email  and talked to  to her
once on the phone. In the service of full disclosure, her company is now
doing a production at Theatre Double, however, I have nothing to do with
it.
>
>More importantly, I believe this discussion goes to the heart of how
>playwrights are treated.   Many of us writers are familiar with sending our
>scripts into the void, and never getting a response back, yea or nay, even
>from actor-driven companies and literary/artistic directors who claim to be
>on the side of the playwrights.

 Ya know, no  one ever talks about  all the fires that didn't happen, or
the people who didn't die that day. I'm very prompt about returning email,
phone callsanswering questions... Your only basis for making this claim is
the disaster you see, not the successes you don't.



> I certainly do feel that if Brad feels badly, he should arrange for
>reimbursement of the playwright's ticket and expenses. Also: He never
>explains why an "awards ceremony" >made it necessary for him to reschedule
>the reading series, and knock out
>Karen C's play.

 I've already covered the fact that Karen was coming to NYC anyway and that
this was simply an addition  to that schedule.  The awards ceremony was the
Barrymore  awrds- Philadelphia's answer to the Obies or the Drama-logues.
It is the Philadelphia theatre communities evening to celebrate themselves,
and I felt it inappropriate to impinge on that celebration
>
>If a reading is about playwrights, then why is there a big chunk of bio about
>Brad himself in his original press release?  I've RARELY seen a press release
>about a reading series where the facilitator is the star.  It couldn't be
>self-aggrandizement, could it?

 Now you're going a bit ad-hominem. I can unmderastand this assertio, but
this is the general press trelease, announcing the first grouping of
readings. Since it is a general press release, it seemed like a good idea
to have a  piece of the  release be about the creator of the series. There
will also be a playwright-specific press release sent out  before each
individual reading.


>Brad is only doing what dozens of theaters in major cities do all the time --
>hold a public reading for underappreciated playwrights.  Some groups do it
>weekly. They do it for the love of it. And by God, they also pick up a phone
>if they have to postpone or knock out a reading.

 I don't se that atmosphere of which you speak, at least not in
Philadelphia or NYC. My  gut feeling is that you need to be on a mailing
list, or in the business, to get an invitation. In 6 years in NYC, I was
only invited to one reading , and that was because  was on a performer's
personal mailing list.  I hope it's different where you are.  As to
responsibilty fot cancvelingP:you are right- I made a mistake... It's not a
satisfying situation for me to be in either...
>
>Yes, indeed, I do believe that if someone is overworked, and pleads that as
>an excuse to explain why a project is running badly, then certainly he or she
>should have thought twice about taking it on.
 I'm sorry ,if in trying to do good, you feel I did badly. That wasn't the
intent.
>
---brad