Today is apparently the day that Culture Stops. Except it won’t. I basically agree with their mission: Culture Stops! is a citizen-driven, peaceful day of action by individuals and organizations in the creative sector across the United States who share the simple belief that the power of creative thought is...
rabble rousing
Supply, Demand, and Quality in the American Theater Or, Just What Are We Supplying? NEA chair Rocco Landesman’s comments at the recent Arena Stage New Works convening – that we have a supply and demand issue in the American Theater, and that we should consider decreasing supply – has started...
Only one pays. You see, I have an MFA in Poetry and when I was in graduate school I knew that said degree wasn’t going to translate into a paying job. Are you kidding? You think playwrights have it rough? Try the world of poetry. Poets hobble together a living....
What the F@#k is Devised Theatre (Or How I Accidently Helped Start a Theatre Company) One of the great conversations that has arisen from Arena Stage’s New Play Convening is this discussion about devised theatre: what is it; who does it; why do they bother? As people started trying to...
I’m really happy for Gwydion here. He’s found a situation that works for him as an artist, and I wouldn’t wish him anything differently. But as he points out so well, not every artist has the luxury of a cool company, doing work that so well complements their art. And...
I don’t like to talk too much about the employment situation I’ve enjoyed for the last nine or so years, because I’m not inclined to brag… but the truth is, for a playwright—for any sort of artist, really—I’ve got it good: very good. Of late, though, I’ve begun to think...
As someone in the process of starting my own theater company, I was predisposed to take issue with Rebecca Novick’s post. It ended up upsetting me less than I predicted, but I maintain what I predicted my position would be: I’m starting my theater company, damn it. Not that I...
Please Don’t Start a Theater Company, I Say Again… In 2009, I read with interest a call from Edward Clapp, a graduate student at Harvard, for essays on the future of the arts by arts workers under 40. Thinking about what to write, I recalled a conversation I’d had just...
As Laurie Baskin says at the TCG site, “It is vitally important that you actively participate in advocacy this week regarding the NEA.” Click through to her post where you will find several links for action and advocacy. Do check them out, sign onto the lists, send messages to your...
Talk all you want about supply and demand, at least we have a National Endowment for the Arts. For now. If you haven’t read this post by Frank Rizzo at the Hartford Courant about tomorrow’s proposal for cutting the NEA budget, go check it out. I suppose the good news...