Thanks for the overwhelming support, dialogue, and even backlash about my previous posts regarding Flying Snakes in 3-D. I truly do appreciate all of it. It’s exciting to me to have people talking regardless of if they agree with me, or think I am in poor taste. I agree with Teddy when he said that, “theater should be a dialogue, not only with the audiences and critics, but with the mediums around it, including film, TV, music, and, of course, the internet. We enjoy continuing the discussion”. I look forward to his response on the matter.
It’s very difficult to articulate my frustrations about theater, critics, class, money etc. without sounding judgmental. I realize my rant against Michael Mraz’s review and posting a private conversation with company members may have seemed mean to the critic- who we don’t know anything about personally. It’s just really hard for me not to be angry about the state of the world and it was easy to write his criticisms off of a show that deals with class issues when we saw that he’s a white guy who went to a school that costs $19,672.00 a term plus living expenses in New York city. Even if I was just going off the numbers/facts about inequality in gender gaps in the United States and the obscene class division that infects every aspect of this capitalist country- even the arts, I don’t know anything about this kid and he may have been on scholarship. I get that.
I won’t apologize for anything though- because in the end- this is my blog and I can write whatever I want. And if you’re reading this, you obviously care about what I have to say. So thank you.
Also, I’m just super jealous because I can’t afford an MFA and it just seems like a lot of people who get fellowships that I get rejected for have the time and the luxury to hone their talents ( and yes, I say talents- because talent is talent no matter where you are from) and supportive parents they can get money from whenever they want or even at least go home to them once in a while without getting kicked out of their own house on Christmas after their dad shoved you in front of your crying mother. Whatever. Everyone works hard. But hard work and talent doesn’t get you success in this country and the unfairness is worth talking about because artists who come from these communities (me, others I know) rarely have a voice- and since theater makers/institutions tend to be more conservative than we expect—I really do believe all of this is worth talking about whether anyone agrees or disagrees. This is actually what our show is about.
Also: Some Monday Links about Flying Snakes in 3D
From Theater In The Now: http://www.theaterinthenow.com/2012/01/review-when-snakes-soar.html?spref=fb
From Julian Mesri: http://julianmesri.com/2012/01/23/for-a-ruthless-criticism-of-everything-existing-including-critics/
And this: http://www.apoorplayer.net/2012/01/the-great-whiter-than-ever-way/
Lastly- here is some more text from the show, <3 Leah
TEXCERPT from the show w/Teddy Nicholas, Lindsay Mack and Chase Voorhees
EVERYWHERE THEATRE GROUP MEETING, May 2011
In italics: Reenactment of an actual conversation
LEAH, TEDDY, LINDSAY and CHASE are sitting having a meeting, working hard on a grant application.
TEDDY
If we get this grant, we’ll get like ten thousand dollars.
LEAH
Oh my god. Can you imagine having ten thousand dollars to make a show?
TEDDY
If we had ten thousand dollars to make a show, we could make like ten War Horses.
LEAH
And we would never squander away grant money on a whirlwind European vacation and use “research” as an excuse to get fucked up and have philosophical conversations. Like who does that?
TEDDY
Rich white people do that. Either they’re obsessed with their own privileged problems as if their parents getting a divorce was the end of world, or they’re constantly writing about other classes, races, or religions like they have any fucking clue what they are talking about
LINDSAY
Let the people who grew up there in those cultures and neighborhoods and countries have a voice on professional stages too.
LEAH
Like that’s ever going to happen.
TEDDY
It’s hopeless. We should just stop working on this application.
LINDSAY
We probably aren’t gonna get it anyway. And even if we do get it, it’s like, we’re being funded by the 1% which will devalue our authenticity.
CHASE
No, we shouldn’t give up. We could get it. And the 1% SHOULD be giving to the arts, so it’s fine. It’s better us get it than artists who are already rich and have trust-funds.
LEAH
I wish there was a portion in a grant application that makes people say how much money their parents make and how nice and supportive they are.
LINDSAY
Well, I wish there was a grant only for artists who were abused by their parents, grew up poor, who can’t afford MFA’s but are really passionate and good- we would get it in a minute.
TEDDY
No. They’ll think we’re too young. We’re too young! Twenty-seven is like toddlers in the institutional giving world and in theatre.
LINDSAY
Is this hopeless?
TEDDY
Yeah.
LINDSAY
Then why are we still doing this? It doesn’t feel right to complain because nobody asks us to do it. So why are we still doing it?
LEAH
Because we love it. I mean, every time I think about quitting because theater is an inferior dying art form that is killing us and aging us prematurely from stress, I go to the rehearsal room and am reminded of why it’s so sweet and good.
TEDDY
Well I don’t even know if I love it or If I want to be doing it anymore to be honest. It’s scary.
CHASE
I think about that all the time.
LINDSAY
I’m so fucking exhausted.
LEAH
I feel so weighed down by constant rejection.
CHASE
I just want a break.
LINDSAY
Guys, people have it worse than this! There are so many scary things in the world.
CHASE
Yeah, you know what’s really scary? Starvation and genocide
LINDSAY
Plagues and rape.
TEDDY
Global warming and racism.
LEAH
Snakes.
TEDDY
Oh my god, snakes are so scary.
LEAH
They’re the scariest animal in the world.
CHASE
I don’t think snakes are that scary.
LEAH
What’s the scariest animal in the world then?
CHASE
A bat that eats people.
LINDSAY
A talking spider.
TEDDY
Humans.
LEAH
Well what about like… a snake… that flies?
LINDSAY/TEDDY/CHASE
AHHH!!! (laughter)
TEDDY
Oh my god, that’s sooo scary!
LEAH
I KNOW, can you imagine how scary snakes would be if they could fly? Like in the sky? From Space?!
CHASE
How would they fly exactly? Do they have wings?
TEDDY
No. They would just swim out of the ocean and soar into the sky and rip out people’s throats.
LINDSAY
That sounds like a perfect Sci Fi channel movie — they would be genetically engineered to fly. By scientists. Who were supposed to create a chemical compound for the US Army but they mutated King Cobras that were in the lab by accident!
LEAH
Or WAS it an accident?
TEDDY
And they escaped!!! And now the world is at danger! I fucking love movies like that, the plots write themselves.
CHASE
I love 3-D movies. I wish we could make that. It would be so fun.
LEAH
That should be our next show!
LINDSAY
OH MY GOD. I LOVE IT!
CHASE
Can there be a ragtag team of heroes who defeat the snakes?
LEAH
YES!
LINDSAY
There has to a couple in it who dies right at the beginning!
TEDDY
Wait, how is this going to work in theater. It sounds more like a movie. Like, a really bad movie. And what is it going to be about?
LINDSAY
FLYING SNAKES! AND EXPLOSIONS! It’ll be hilarious!
LEAH
It could be about us, trying to make an impossible play that is better suited for an art form that is equipped with the technology and money to make snakes fly.
TEDDY
Wait, would we be IN the show? I’m not comfortable with that. I’m not even comfortable being in this video.
CHASE
I’m like in love with this idea. I don’t care if we don’t have any money. I can make the video really awesome for it.
LEAH
Well, we don’t have to be in it, we can get actors to play us!
LINDSAY
Come on, this would be so much fun!
LEAH
Good, because it’s done.
TEDDY
Wait, it’s done?
LEAH
Yes. We made the show already.
CHASE
That’s why we’re doing this video. Dummy.
TEDDY
Oh, yes, of course. That’s why I’m being played by an actor right now.
PETER MILLS WEISS
Hello. My name is Peter Mills Weiss and I’ll be portraying co-writer and former ETG member Teddy Nicholas.
TRICIA CRAMER
(also to the camera)
And I’m Tricia Cramer. I’ll be portraying Leah Winkler, co-writer, co-director ETG member and when you see this sign:
CUT TO: A SIGN THAT READS THROW YOUR SNAKES!
TRICIA CRAMER
Please throw your snakes at the actors!
LINDSAY
(also to the camera)
And I’m Linsday Mack, actor, choreographer ETG member and I’m portraying myself because I’m an actress. I’ll also be playing the role of Inis Goodheart, a sexy doctor scientist rebel.
CHASE
(also to the camera)
I’m Chase Voorhees, video director, sound designer ETG member and nobody is portraying me because I’m not really a character in this, I’m just like… I’m normal or whatever but sometimes I will shout things from the booth while I run the sound and video.Guys, are we ready to start?
CAST
Yes!
I find myself so interested in all this drama and back and forth over the semi-negative review of your show, and your subsequent responses to it. I would like to offer a few comments of my own, as I find myself torn between both sides of the argument.
1. I think the mission of your company, and the message of your show are important ones. There is certainly and undeniably a huge percentage of the population of New York City that cannot afford or properly gain access to theatre of any level. That would certainly include $200 Broadway performances of Book of Mormon (Not gonna see many inner city kids in that theatre on a nightly basis) but would also include practically any show right down to the $18 off-off performances. However, I think you ignore an issue that is far bigger than the cost. I think the real issue here is that there is a perception among many many people, even those who have money to burn, that the theatre no longer offers a good return for your entertainment dollar. You can’t possibly deny that at least 75% of shows that are put up in this city (even on Broadway) are pretty much garbage. Either they are pure vanity projects (Ugh, another 50 year old Hamlet) misguided attempts at socio-political commentary (Glengarry Glenn Ross with an all female cast!) or just poorly and nepotistically cast (Broadway is particularly guilty of this.) People who are looking for a night out see the movies as a better bet. Yeah, a lot of movies are bad too, but even a bad movie like Transformers offers people high entertainment value. It undersells even the cheapest play by 4 bucks a ticket, and at it’s worst offers good production values, audible dialogue, a clear story, sexy actors, and themes young people can identify with. I would say that most theatrical productions I have seen (hundreds) offer two or less of these five things.
If we want to get young, “underprivileged,” and non-traditional audiences into the theatre, we need to provide them with stories they want to see, told in ways they want to see them. We cannot see the theatre as the dumping ground for all things too “arty” for the cinema, and we cannot give ourselves a pass as “theatre actors” to be shlubby, out of shape, nerds. This is not an argument against character actors, but an argument for theatre actors holding themselves to the same high standards as movie stars. (Stay in shape, eat right, be flexible and limber, keep stylish) You ever see Steve Buchemi do an interview in cargo shorts and a t-shirt? No, he always looks classy and put together, even as a pretty “ugly” man. We have to accept that if we want to go on stage and have people look at us for three hours, they need to have something dynamic to look at. Obviously, theatre cannot provide the level of effects or production values of movies, but we can tell stories that are just as young and exciting, and we can fill them with sexy, fit actors with strong voices and minds. We can do stories about sports, sex, and zombies. We can do wild comedies like the films of Judd Apatow. We can do romantic comedies and why couldn’t a script like Bridesmaids be a theatrical production. Yes we have to do stories we are passionate about, but you still gotta “give-em-what-they-want” so to speak. Lets not let ourselves off the hook by saying people just can’t afford it. I think that is a pretty small part of it.
2. I think it pretty unfair to criticize the reviewer of your show for the cost of his education, especially as at least one of you went to Butler University where tuition is currently $15,555 a semester, not including room and board. Sure, the cost of education in this country is a problem, but I don’t think that a person’s education expenses correlate directly to their views on art. I mean, look, your school was expensive, but you care about inclusive theatre. I never got the sense in his review that he was elitist or that his perspective was particularly upper-class. He just didn’t much like the show, and that’s his right and also his obligation as a reviewer; to provide his honest response. He is not supposed to review your “reasons” for doing the show, only if he found it enjoyable, thought-provoking, and entertaining. The real problem is not that only rich college educated kids are writing about and for the theatre, but our State and Local governments don’t care about theatre, so it is the first thing to get cut from middle school and high school budgets. If you want to flip the script on theatre’s upper class white bias, get your show out of The Brick (located smack in the middle of white upper middle class Williamsburg,) and get it into some high schools and community centers in the Bronx where you stand a chance of affecting some real change. In other words, if your gonna bitch about the crisp white linnens of the white man, you better have some mud on your clothes. (And not artfully arranged, hipster Williamsburg mud either. I know you guys are giving out freebies, props, but not many 17 year old black kids from the inner city Bronx are coming out there to the Lorimer stop on a Friday night, get real.)
3. Keep up the good work. I love that you guys are so vocal and contrary, and I love that you don’t take shit lying down. No doubt there are a lot of dumb-ass critics out there ( once a guy reviewed a play I was in, and he left at intermission. In his review, he said my monologue was great. The only problem…it was in act two after he left) I would just caution that you don’t let your antipathy towards the critical reaction to your work inflate your sense of self-righteousness. Keep yourselves focused on the real problems and on finding solutions to them and don’t get bogged down in petty bickering about reviews and the morons who mostly write them. Believe me, those “under-represented” audiences you are trying to reach, they don’t read NY Theater reviews, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Turn that energy into action, and push harder. That’s my two cents, hope you know I love you guys, even though I am white, male, upper middle class (thanks to my day job) and went to an expensive school (Yeah, it was Butler.)
I love this post. “I wish there was a portion in a grant application that makes people say how much money their parents make and how nice and supportive they are.”
Ha ha ha ha!
I’d also love to see this grant should exclude MFAs. can’t there be at least ONE grant for underprivileged writers?
I’ve been following this interdemensional controversy for a while now, but a bunch of stuff Kevin said up there I can’t help but comment on.
Since I help run Tenement Street (an art collective) I thought I might reply as if what Kevin said had been brought up in one of our weekly board meetings and the issues he raises have to be resolved.
Issue:
“Obviously, theatre cannot provide the level of effects or production values of movies, but we can tell stories that are just as young and exciting, and we can fill them with sexy, fit actors with strong voices and minds”
The Board Resolves:
To recast our next production with people from David Barton’s gym and rescind membership status to anyone bigger than a peanut. We will also revise Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” into Chekhov’s “Three Hot Lesbian Sisters.”
Issue:
“We cannot see the theatre as the dumping ground for all things too “arty” for the cinema, and we cannot give ourselves a pass as “theatre actors” to be shlubby, out of shape, nerds. This is not an argument against character actors, but an argument for theatre actors holding themselves to the same high standards as movie stars. (Stay in shape, eat right, be flexible and limber, keep stylish) ”
The Board Resolves:
To become movie stars…
Issue:
“Yes we have to do stories we are passionate about, but you still gotta “give-em-what-they-want” so to speak”
The Board Resolves:
To understand exactly what they want and how to give it to em’ while continuing to be sexy ass movie stars. (we’re lookin at you Brad Pitt…The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? Really?! HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT WOULD DO WELL?! Damn you Brad.)
Issue:
“Not many 17 year old black kids from the inner city Bronx are coming out there to the Lorimer stop on a Friday night, get real”
The Board Resolves:
To send a bus every Friday night to Mosholu Parkway and pick up 17 year old black teenagers and drop them off on Lorimer.
Send hate or love to thankyou@tenementstreet.org
John,
You must be doing extremely well over at Tenement Street in order to take such a glib tone in response to my comments. I find such a snarky response to my earnest concerns about the perception of the theatre to be actually quite telling. (Thank you for proving my point, so to speak.) It is exactly this, our inability to look at our art as business, the inability to look at ourselves as entertainers as well as artists, that will continue to speed the decline of an art form I dearly love.
I think I was pretty clear in my discourse that I was not asking for all theatre actors to be or look like movie stars. Only that we begin to take a serious look at the theatre as a business, and hold ourselves to a higher standard in terms of how we present ourselves. In order to continue to survive, and to grow, the theatre needs to begin to look at itself through more of an business lens. It seems that within the last century, perhaps because of the rise of film, many theatre producers and creators have taken a pretty indignant track in the mounting of their productions. The attitude I perceive in many shows, and from many companies is; “this is ‘art.’ if you don’t like it, you’re stupid.” Now, I am aware that this statement sounds childish, but I cannot believe that you have not felt this while watching many shows in New York City. Do you really think that any film studio would last long if they took that attitude toward their movies? You didn’t see any studio heads out defending “Batman and Robin” when they released that movie. The watched the movie, looked at the critical and audience reaction, said to themselves…’people hate this movie.’ Then they got a new director and reset the path of the franchise. Look what happened, they packed the theatres, and created a better product in the process. Unfortunately, this is not the response of many theatre companies. They often respond with childish indignance (Leah gets a pass on this one, as her defense of ‘Snakes’ was intellectual and spoken with passion not merely defensiveness.) rather than with cold blooded, practical, objectivism. I would argue though, that having an ear to the desires of the audience is not impossible as you seem to imply, or in fact foreign to the theatre. Shakespeare performed his plays to packed houses that ran the gamut of the citizenry-from the richest to the poorest. It is well documented that he revised his work constantly in response to the reactions of the audience. So when I say ‘give them what they want’ I think I have some pretty good shoulders to stand on.
Look, John, I am an actor and I have been in many shows and worked with many great actors, directors, and writers. There is no doubt in my mind that many actors will find my position objectionable. They will say, “oh, looks should have nothing to do with it. Business should have nothing to do with it. Like you they will say, ‘well, we can’t all be movie stars.’” Obviously, that’s true, if the guys and gals in the Tenement Street art collective had Steven Spielberg on the phone this morning, I doubt they would be showing up for rehearsal tonight. That being said, why can’t we look at ourselves in the same way and with the same respect. Not everyone can make a violin like Stradivarius, but that doesn’t mean they should not strive to. I believe that we should all make an effort to go on stage with the finest instrument s available to us. Obviously, everyone’s is different, but that does not mean we should not keep them tuned, polished, and well maintained.
I also have to say in closing that I find your final comments about sending a bus to the Bronx to be disheartening. All I was saying is that if we want to reach a wider audience, we need to do theatre sometimes where that audience is. That being said, why couldn’t a theatre send a bus to pick up poor kids and bring them to a show? Many productions have spent their budget dollars on less important things, and they would be creating new potential audience members in the process. I don’t want to waste any more of Leah’s blog space in defense of my statements, but I stand by them. I want the theatre to survive and to flourish, and I firmly believe that a better attention to the business end of theatre puts us in the best possible position to continue this important art form. Thanks for your comments, and best of luck in the work you are doing. I wish you, and all theatre artists success, despite the differences in our philosophy.