This just in from the Washington Post. Newsflash: New Play Development has reached new heights of absurdity in this country!
Of course us 'wrights have known this for years but it's comforting to see the issue out front and center. The Post article, by Nelson Pressley begins with a pretty scathing (but well-deserved) point.
Does the American theater treat its playwrights like babies? You might think so, considering the elaborate midwifing infrastructure that has been erected around play development in recent years.
The names often have an infantilizing quality: PlayPenn in Philadelphia, or the relatively new Inkubator series here. Then there's that $125 million reconstruction at Arena Stage's longtime home in Southwest that will yield a significant new addition: a new-play venue called the Cradle.
I'm sure we all have our war stories and I'd encourage other E.C. authors to chime in on this. I remember one theatre in particular (that shall remain nameless 'cause this really isn't about bad-mouthing one institution) that invited me to have my play read. After the reading, I was delighted to learn that the play had "graduated" to a staged reading, which was scheduled the following season. After the staged reading, I was told that since there were two more stages in their development structure between staged reading and full production, the play would need substantial revisions prior to each stage.
I asked a question I guess one simply doesn't ask when one is hoping to ingratiate oneself. "What if a play is ready for production after its second reading? Does every play have to go through 4 developmental hoops in order to warrant a full production?"
I'm still waiting for an answer.
The ugly truth that no one seems willing to acknowledge (save Gary Garrison and his peripatetic round-table discussions—see Doing it in Your Own Backyard on this site) is that the Development System has sprung up out of economic concerns, mostly. Basically, we've got a situation where most regional theatres are gun shy and it's much safer to string along a "community" of writers with endless readings, workshops, discussions, etc. than to actually risk the thousands it costs to build sets, hire actors and designers and sell tickets.
One particularly amusing quote comes from Ari Roth:
Ari Roth, artistic director of Washington's Theater J (and a playwright himself), counters: "These institutions that treat new plays with kid gloves -- why are they doing it? Nobody wants to see a new play unless it's terrific. New plays are nobody's best friend until they've got some heat behind them. So we're protecting them."
Protecting them? Um... Protecting the plays? How 'bout protecting your own asses? From the risk of comercial failure!
Most theatres have become completely petrified of risk and that includes the New York biggies. If one of the usual suspects does happen to produce risky and though-provoking work, it only does so when it can guarantee press by stacking the decks with "star" talent—writer, director, designers and actors.
Once again the rules of the game have been poisoned by a culture that is fascinated by celebrity above all else. Until that changes, I don't see much hope for a vibrant new American theatre.
Although... I'm thinking that the recent success of Tracy Letts' August: Osage County may offer a ray of hope. Certainly none of its key players could be considered celebs, yet it has enjoyed a warm and lengthy run on Broadway, in spite of the fact that Rolando Teco didn't much care for it.
What do you think? Is there cause for hope? Here? There? Anywhere?
