The other day I mentioned that I had two ideas for plays, both of which are experimental in nature.  I asked for your opinions, and you responded with some very good questions for me to think about.

I’ll start with a question from Dennis: Why now?

That’s a complicated question, but I’ll do my best to answer.  Firstly, I think they are interesting concepts that would be entertaining for me to watch.  Not sure about others, but I would certainly enjoy it, I think.  Second, as a rookie director, this would be a good experience in bringing the concepts to life.  The hard part would be making it entertaining and understandable to others, with the right amount of “Hey, watch this” and “Can you figure out the puzzle?” elements to it.

Unfortunately, like the Prof said, that might be something that I wouldn’t want to subject an audience to.  He suggested that I undertake the project on my own, but not subject an audience to the play if it’s just “noodling around” with techniques.

That’s understandable.  In fact, I agree completely.  What I’m not sure about, however, is whether or not these concepts are “noodling around” or actually strong ideas that would work.  Clearly, I’d have to write the scripts first, before I can make such a determination.

So let’s assume Professor Walters is right:  this is just “noodling around” and it’s not worth subjecting an audience to.  Now what?  How do I take this experiment to its logical conclusion?  Get actors together, direct them, put together a show and… what? Don’t show it to people?

I can definitely see the benefits to doing it in private, in terms of learning the techniques, but in terms of.. well.. it’s the principle of the thing.  A show is meant to be.. well, showed!

Am I missing something?

Since I haven’t updated lately, and I’m being nagged to do so, I figure I’ll chime in on Scott Walter’s opinion regarding generalists vs specialists in theatre.  But first, a story.

I was wandering around Naperville, taking in the sights of this small town outside Chicago, visiting the park and shops and restaurants.  I passed what appeared to be a homeless man with a sign.  I forget the exact wording, but the sign contained a phrase from 1 Corinthians.  The (possibly) homeless man didn’t say anything — he was too busy tapping away at his laptop.  I guess one can be homeless and still have a laptop.

I stopped at an intersection, and another guy walks up next to me.  He’s wearing a shirt that says “I know Jimmy Too!”, which was clearly an advertisement for the restaurant behind me called Jimmy’s Grill.  I said, “You work there?”  You can call me Captain Obvious.

He said “Yep, sure do.”

“Any good?” I asked.

“Oh, man, it’s great!  Great food, great service.  The people there are exceptional.”  He started running across the street, obviously in a hurry to get somewhere.

“You have to say that.  You work there!” I called after him.  He turned and looked at me while running backwards.

“If I didn’t think it was great, I’d work somewhere else!”

I laughed and went into the bookstore on the corner, where I proceeded to spend insane amounts of cash on former trees covered in ink.  On my way out, I called my buddy and asked him where a good place to eat was and he recommended some sort of Mongolian buffet place.  I decided I’d rather have a burger.

I walked into Jimmy’s Grill.  A short redhead asks me if I want to eat inside or outside.  I shrug.  It’s gorgeous outside, but it’s also kinda hot.  She motions for me to follow, and the guy from the street pops up in my face.

“It was the outfit, wasn’t it?” he asked, pointing at his ridiculous hat and big floppy shoes.  Seriously, they were like clown shoes.

I said, “Yeah, that’s it.”  He gives me a high five and a fist bump and wanders off.  The redhead leads me to further inside and seats me at a table.  The guy comes back over and sits down at my table.

“Dude, you got books!  What are you reading?  Mind if I see?” I pulled out a book.  “Man, I’m not into these kinds of books, but my buddy is totally into this.  I think he’s read this one.  Does it have ninjas in it?” I laughed and shook my head.  “Oh, dang.  I wanna read something good.  Got any suggestions?”  I suggested my favorite book series.  He took out his pad of paper and wrote down the name of the author and the first book.

“Does it have ninjas in it?”

I laughed and shook my head again.

“Well, dude, I’m sorry I can’t be your waiter, but I’ll introduce you to the girl who will wait on you.  Here she is.”  He led a girl over to my table and introduced me.  I have no idea what her name is, in retrospect, but she was nice enough.  Forgettable, but nice.

Throughout the meal, the guy kept coming over and talking about random stuff — the synchronized swimmers on the TV, the burger I got, where I’m from — all the while, carrying drinks to other people and food to yet more.  He was funny, goofy, polite and entertaining.

In short, he was probably the best waiter I’ve ever seen.

On the way out, I gave him a tip for making my stay at Jimmy’s Grill memorable.

“Don’t spit into the wind,” I advised him.  I also gave him some cold, hard cash.

I walked back to my car, carrying my leftovers, and I passed the homeless laptop Bible guy again.  Only this time, there was a rather large fellow leaning over and yelling at the poor guy.  Insults flew from this guy’s mouth, barraging the poor fellow with torrents of anger and condescension.  What exactly the problem was, I never found out.  I hope he didn’t get his feelings hurt too badly, though.

Anyway… uh.. where was I… hmm.  Oh, right.  Generalists vs Specialists.

I agree with you, Scott.  Good stuff, as always.

Seriously. Am I? Check out Scott’s latest blog entry, Closed, and then come back here.

Why is everyone acting like he’s leaving for good? Bloggers like Devilvet, Laura Axelrod, and Freeman have written blogs lamenting the latest post by Scott. They’re acting like he died.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I beg to differ.

Scott wrote,

I have used this blog, especially during the past five months, to develop my ideas about theatre tribes. I have floated the first drafts of ideas to see what needed to be clarified, fine-tuned, or scrapped entirely. It is now time to truly focus on the development of those ideas. It does not serve my purpose to continue scrapping with the usual bloggers about whether the theatre tribe idea will work — I know it will work; or whether it is worthwhile — I know it is worthwhile. I am wasting my time, and I don’t have any to waste.
…

The discussion will continue, however, just not here. There are currently 64 people who have joined my Theatre Tribe website at Ning, and I have been neglecting them all while I scrap with others. It is time to focus on those who are interested in exploring these ideas, rather than those who are focused on knocking them down in the interest of “strengthening” them. If you are interested in joining this community, click on the badge in the right column that says “Join Theatre Tribe.”

I have enjoyed this conversation, but we all know that I have started to repeat myself, and have the same argument with the same people over and over. Even I am bored with it by now.

So Scott used the blog to promote his theatre tribes idea. And now he’s taking that discussion elsewhere. Does that mean he’s going to stop posting at all? Half of his posts have nothing to do with theatre tribes. Perhaps it’s these lines that people are hinging their posts on:

I leave the door open a crack for a future return, should I feel the need. But right now, I am headed for Ning, and for the quiet of my study as I try to complete this book on the theatre tribe idea.

That definitely reeks of I’m Gone-ness, but I interpret this as an end to this particular conversation. For two and a half years Scott has written about various topics relating to theatre and only in the most recent five months has he developed the theatre tribe paradigm. I don’t define Scott Walters by his tribes idea — and I hope he doesn’t define himself by that.

Maybe he’ll correct me himself, but like many others, I don’t think this is the end of Theatre Ideas. I, for one, would be disappointed should Scott shut down Theatre Ideas for good. So I hope that doesn’t happen.

It is true, however, that his major shift will be to a different medium. So those of you who care about changing the face of regional theatre, I’ll see you at the Theatre Ideas Ning site.

But just to cover my ass: if it is the end, best of luck Scott. I’ll be seeing you on the Ning forum.

In my previous post, Problem Solving Skills, I talked about how Scott Walters has identified several problems that plague the current LORT theatre world and how he has recently moved on to proposing possible solutions.  On a challenge from Devilvet, Mr. Walters has provided a short four point proposal for getting the status quo to shift to more favorable terms.

I had a point with my last post, but I got distracted and wound up writing about something completely different.  This time, I’m going to go back to my original post.

I began talking about Mr. Walter’s blog because it provides a direct parallel to something that I see in my alma mater’s theatre all the time.  It’s hard to walk into the dressing room, costume shop, scene shop or green room of this theatre without running into at least one person complaining about the administration’s shortcomings.  So-and-so didn’t do this, or such-and-such didn’t do this, so Joe Schmoe can’t do this.  Blah blah blah.

Let me give a more specific example.  At this particular theatre, we are wrapping up a production of Fiddler on the Roof.  Apparently, on this past Sunday  there was supposed to be a photo call immediately following the show.  Unfortunately, none of us (including the director) were made aware of this until intermission on Sunday’s performance.  Several actors sat in the dressing room and green room while waiting for their next entrance.  All they did was bitch and moan about how they weren’t given advance notice and they had better things to do.  They pointed out the facts that we didn’t receive rehearsal schedules, there were no announcements made, and somebody fucked up and by God, it’s not our fault.

That’s fine and dandy, fellas.  But what are you going to do about it?  Instead of going to the stage manager and/or director and relating their concerns, the cast bitched and moaned about the problem.  They identified the problem.  They talked about the problem.  They repeated the problem again.  The thing is, these guys were preaching to the choir.  We should have been given advance notice, and the entire cast shouldn’t have to suffer for one person’s fuck-up.  But the cast didn’t do anything to improve the situation.  They simply restated the problem over and over to each other.

This kind of thing happens all the time.  All — the — time.  A few years ago, an entire semester worth of shows was cast in the first two weeks of the school year.  The two shows were of small casts (8 people each).  To make matters worse, half the cast of the first was also cast in the second.  Why is this a problem?  There were over thirty performance majors who wanted parts, and half the people cast weren’t even drama majors.  Of the thirty-plus performance majors, only four had been cast in either show.  What did the rest of the department do?  They bitched and moaned about it.

Finally, I had enough.  As a graduate student, I said “Guys, if you want parts so badly, propose a play for you guys to do, pick a director, and put a show on yourselves.”  They looked at me like I was crazy.

“No,” they replied.  “It’s the department’s duty to provide us with performance experience.”

I’ve always been of the opinion that I would only help those who helped themselves first, but for some unknown reason, I stepped up to the plate.  I picked and proposed a play, got it approved, and cast 12 more performance majors for a show that semester.  That’s 12 people who wouldn’t have gotten a part otherwise.

That was my first directing experience, fraught with mistakes and screw-ups.  But I helped them out by providing a solution rather than expounding upon the problem.

So what’s the moral of this convoluted post? (It’s past 4am, so please forgive me if it seems like rambling.)

The moral:  once you’ve identified the problem, figure out a solution.  Re-identifying the problem only wastes time, resources, emotions, and energy.

Mr. Walters is well on the way to providing a series of alternatives to the Nylachi way of theatre life.  Let’s support him and create a tribal force to be reckoned with.

In the past few months over on Scott Walter’s blog, he has begun posting about his vision of the new frontiers of theatre — re-imagining theatre, if you will. When I first began reading his blog, and Mr. Walters had just begun his war against the status quo, he explained repeatedly what the problems are with the current set-up of LORT theatres across the country. He identified and defined dozens of aspects of the current set-up that simply are not working. I’m not going to launch into a recap of them now (honestly, it would take far too long), but I will make an observation.

In the beginning, God said “Let there be—… wait, wrong beginning.

In the beginning, Mr. Walters did nothing but explain the problem. Several readers of his (including myself) felt he was preaching to the choir. We were already on his side, or we would not have been reading his blog. Perhaps we hadn’t fully identified all of the problems that he did for us, nor had we thought through the consequences until he pointed them out. But many readers asked Mr. Walters to slow down on the expounding of the problem and attempt to identify some solutions.

Over the past two months, more and more blogs have taken pages from Mr. Walters’ proverbial book and posted on the issues as well, identifying and further clarifying the problems. Once more, there is more discussion about the nature of the problems and less coming up with solutions.

In recent weeks, Mr. Walters has begun offering possible solutions to the problems he has identified. He refers to his philosophical ideal as a tribe — a group of people who work closely together to solve the problems they’re faced with. If you would like more information on his tribal structure, check out his blog here.

I had a different point when I began this blog, but I’ve run out of time for now. I’ll post further on the subject when I get some more free time to work.

I challenge you, readers, to identify any issues or problems that you recognize in your theatres and offer possible solutions, whether on your blogs, in my comments, or on Mr. Walters’ tribe website.

Cowboys and Indians, go!

I’m down with the flu right now, so I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time writing. I will, however, direct you to two blogs that you absolutely must read. These are two of the most thought-provoking things I’ve read regarding theatre in a long time. I’ve talked to some people in person regarding these two writers’ thoughts, but I get the “you’re crazy” look and excuses. If you truly care about theatre, whether as a professional or an audience member, you should read these two blogs (preferably in order) and try and understand the dilemma that plagues American theatre today.

The first is The Empty Spaces, or How Theatre Failed America. The second is Scott Walters’ response titled Buckminster Fuller is Right.

Read them both, and leave a comment letting me know what you think. I’ll be following up with my own thoughts later, once this nasty flu goes away.

I’m relatively new to blogging, and I’ve yet to make it into extensive professional theatre credits, but I’ve been trying to keep up-to-date on the latest and greatest in the theatre scene. I have to say, despite only blogging for two months, I’ve read some pretty inspiring posts and chatted with some pretty incredible people. These are the guys who are changing my perspective on theatre, getting out of my young, naive viewpoint and into the nitty gritty reality of theatre. Here’s a brief list of just a few of the blogs that I read on a regular basis. I’ve got over 30 that I subscribe to, but for now I’ll stick to about five. Here we go:

- Theatre Ideas is run by Scott Walters. I’ve linked to him before. He’s one of the masterminds behind a movement to change the face of theatre. While his posts are hit-and-miss with me (sorry, I’m not good with statistics, Scott), I always walk away, so to speak, with more questions than answers. In case you’re wondering, that’s good. It generates comments (like the To MFA or Not MFA conversation) and keeps me on my toes.

- Parabasis is another blog that I read when they update. Like Theatre Ideas, Parabasis has some good stuff. Every once in awhile, there’s an off-topic post, but that kinda keeps things from getting too repetitive. A good blog that was posted very recently deals with the issue of Enhancement, or when commercial producers fund a show by a non-profit, in hopes of moving it to a commercial venue in the future. Good stuff.

- An Angry White Guy In Chicago isn’t really angry. He’s white, and he’s in Chicago, but he’s not angry. Well, sometimes he’s angry, sometimes he’s not. He got the name from — well, that’s not really relevant to this post. Semantics aside, this guy attacks some pretty serious issues facing theatre in Chicago, as well as some political stuff. Since theatre and politics are two of my favorite subjects to read about (until the election anyway, and then I’ll tune out), this ain’t so bad. Don’s got particularly funny ideas regarding stunt casting for Broadway musicals.

- A Storefront Rebellion was started by Kris Vire who, alongside Scott Walters, advocates the proliferation of.. well.. storefront theatres. Once again, great posts that are both inspiring and fun to read. He regularly posts on another blog called Time Out Chicago, which I have yet to read. Good stuff, though.

- BroadwayMouth wants to be a librettoist. Is that a word? I’m not sure. A teacher who wants to become a full-time libretto-maker (that’s definitely a word) writes a blog. He’s got some good down-to-earth posts, reviews, stories, etc. You name it, he’s got it, and he’s a good writer to boot! One of his recent posts discusses his first production experience. Great stuff!

By the way, you should all sign up for Google Reader and follow the instructions to add it to your favorite browser (I use Firefox). Once you’ve added Google Reader capability, you can go to any of the above blogs and look for one of the following:

• - Subscribe to this blog
• - Posts (Atom)
• - Subscribe to this RSS Feed
• - or look for an orange button that looks like antenna rays or something.

Once you click on those, choose to either add them to your GMail account or to Google Reader. One will send a notification to your email everytime someone updates, the latter will give you a button to press when you want to read a newly updated blog.

If you have any questions regarding RSS stuff, just ask. It’s fun, it’s easy, and it’s a great way to follow blogs (or any website for that matter)!!

Toodles for now!