Extra Criticum

What is Success ?

I am grateful for being able to post on Extra Criticum and am sorry I haven't in a long while.  I could use the excuse that I now do a weekly internet radio show, work a day job and play poker on the weekends so who the hell has time for a single thing more but that would not be coming from a very grateful place now would it? 

So here I am posting, partly in response to Roland's last post and partly because I have been discussing and debating the topic of what artistic success is on my show, The Unknown Zone Talk Show, fairly regularly.

Why I Started Extra Criticum and What I’ve Learned by Doing So

For at least two years before the birth of Extra Criticum, it seems that my old pal Robert Sullivan had been prodding me to start blogging. “You need a blog. Every writer should have a blog. Have you thought about starting a blog yet? I really think you ought to consider it.” I don’t know why I resisted. Well, actually, I do. I resisted the idea of starting my own blog because it struck me then as somewhat narcissistic. A journal of my thoughts, feelings and opinions—not to mention mundane actions—posted online for all the world to see? Why bother? What a bore!

So I told Robert the only way I would consider blogging was if it was a group undertaking. I didn’t want to create a space where all the musings of one Roland Tec would be posted ad nauseum. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if I could do so in the company of good friends and colleagues.

Playwright Tammy Ryan on the guns in her plays

Tammy Ryan has a fascinating and troubling piece up on Howlround. Here's a quote:

I have never owned a gun, never touched a gun, never even ever seen a real gun. I don’t share Khakpour’s obsession, but the characters in my plays do. Not in all of them—just the most successful ones, the ones that have been sanctioned by the powers that be as “good,” the plays that receive professional development, multiple productions, get published, and win awards. In each one of those plays a character either, has a gun, shoots a gun, is threatened by a gun, threatens someone else with a gun, is afraid of guns or is somehow traumatized by the violence of a gun.

This is a deeply disturbing revelation for me for several reasons.

To read the full post, click here.

Panic! Is It a Valuable Part of the Process?

Some of you may know that I'm making a documentary, A Life's Work. Currently, I'm editing. On the film's blog I've written quite a bit about the editing process, but I thought this post might be something some performing artist's could relate to. Am I right on this? Let me know.

Typing Behind Glass

Wow. What an eye opening experience I had yesterday!

When Micheline Auger approached me about sitting in a storefront window and playwriting for a few hours I must admit I didn’t really think it through before jumping on board. The audacity of the idea eclipsed any questions I might have had about how it would feel to share such a personal process in public.

As the day drew closer I found myself worrying about it. Not quite regretting, but fretting over which play I would expose to the world. Should I revise an old gem that I adore? Or should I continue forward on my epic exploration of the rise of Ted Kennedy?

In the end I arrived at what felt to me the perfect choice.

Gwydion Suilebhan on Artistic Peacock Communities

Fascinating talk given by activist-playwright-blogger Gwydion Suilebhan on the need for communities to tip the scales in favor of locally-grown art over imported art.

WRIGHT OUT FRONT: A Playwright Happening

This really cool thing put together by Micheline Auger. Check it out:

WHAT IT IS:

An installation of emerging and emerged playwrights writing new plays in the store front of the Drama Book Shop.  In each two hour time slot, a different playwright will work on their play while the screen shot is projected behind them visible to the street. The public can engage and support the playwright via the Write Out Front Facebook page, Twitter and Website and follow the development of the play and writer after the installation ends.

One of those rare star-studded perfect evenings that could only be assembled in New York, as described by Tari Stratton

I was going to post about the Dramatists Guild Fund's 50th Anniversary Gala which was assembled impeccably by its Executive Director Rachel Routh, but Tari Stratton did such a fine job herself on her Magical Miss Tari Tour blog that I figured, why re-invent the whleel? Enjoy! And thanks, Tari, for so completely describing a most memorable evening of talent.

Here's a sample:

Playwright Tammy Ryan charts the landscape of Pittsburgh Theatre on HowlRound

Here's a lovely paragraph from Tammy Ryan's blog post about Pittsburgh theatre from the perspective of the playwright. The post just appeared yesterday on HowlRound.

Meanwhile, on the Filmmaker Magazine Blog

In 1976 Werner Herzog hypnotized his cast of actors and directed one of the strangest narrative films in the history of cinema, Heart of Glass. Alan Greenberg, then a young writer, aspiring filmmaker, and Herzog disciple, was on the set, and thirty-odd years later he, and Herzog, would like to tell you all about it. Hence, Every Night the Trees Disappear: Werner Herzog and the Making of “Heart of Glass” (Chicago Review Press).

Hurt, Beckett, Egoyan, Krapp

Not too long ago Duane Kelly wrote about seeing John Hurt on stage in Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape.

Some kind soul posted on YouTube a film adaptation of the play, directed by Atom Egoyan and starring Hurt. It's simply incredible. Egoyan's camera does not get in the way here, and neither does his editor. The director lets the actor do his job, and we are all better for it. See for yourself.

The "1,000 True Fans" Theory

In a world of ever-shrinking increasingly-segmented market pools, there's an interesting theory about what it will take for an artist to actually make a living through his or her creative output in the 21st Century. The answer? 1,000 true fans.

Athena Film Festival opens Feb. 9

Thanks to our pals at Indiewire for drawing our attention to this inpsiring festival trailer. If you're going to be in Manhattan in February, head uptown to Barnard College for the Athena Film Festival - a celebration of women and leadership.

I am blogging regularly as part of a commission from the Blue Coyote Theatre Group

One of the Artistic Directors, Kyle Ancowitz, wrote a post about Todd London’s book Outrageous Fortune and asked us to respond. This was my response.

“Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is 3,720 to 1!”
“Never tell me the odds.”
– C3PO and Han Solo, Star Wars