There was an interesting article in The Guardian yesterday (see link to the left) defending live theatre (live events in general), which got me to thinking....
I'm a staunch defender of the arts. I've made the arts my career, my passion, and my hobby, and yet I have to admit that it can sometimes take great effort to get me to go out to a live arts event. See a play? I'd rather watch my latest Netflix rental. Get to a concert? Nah...there's a new Steely Dan cd that I can download at half price next week. Go to a gallery? Not right now, I'm in the middle of a good book. Why? Why is it that me, a devotee of all things 'art' has trouble getting motivated to go out?
Cost plays a major factor, of course. Watching DVDs at home is much less expensive than heading out to a live event, even when comparing only the cost of an event alone. Add the usual dinner before-hand, and the obligatory drinks afterward, and the cost of an evening out begins to sky-rocket. And for those of us with children still too young to stay home alone, the price of a baby-sitter often nudges the evening in to the "too much" category.
Still, there is more to it. I think about a small, "professional" theatre twenty minutes from my home. They have been around for some time and are in the process of expanding -- building a new stage. They have a nice reputation, and yet I've only seen three productions in the last three years (one which I was paid to see and review, one in which I worked on as a substitute stage manager, and A Christmas Carol (which I took my son's Cub Scout troup to see)). And I know precisely why I haven't been there more often.
They haven't done anything that I want to see.
There are so many options available for people that to get my butt in a theatre seat, I need to WANT to be there. As a live event promoter, you need to MAKE me want to get away from the dirt-cheap comfort of my La-Z-Boy and the Netflix rental. How do you do that? Boy, if I had the answer to that I could command any salary I choose.
I happen to know that my tastes in theatre are different from the "common" man. I'd pay almost anything to see some Pinter or Ionesco. I wish that more theatres would re-discover some of the great comedies of the Greeks, and the often-forgotten Romans. And where is Moliere? Shakespeare you can find with abundance, but I don't happen to enjoy watching Shakespeare interpreted as modern television fare (oh God, I can just see it now...Law & Order: Shakespeare Stories).
I guess I just don't want to spend my hard-earned money and my too-little recreation time exploring an unknown quantity. What is that show? Is it any good? Who's performing? What style is it in?
There is also, for me, the "one-eyed-God" issue. You've likely heard the expression that in the kingdom of the blind, a one-eyed man is God. I feel that so much of today's theatre is "good," that none stand out as exceptional.
Where is the "one-eyed man" of theatre?
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Congratulations to Theatre Jeune Lune of Minneapolis for winning the Regional Theatre Tony Award. I haven't been to a play in the Twin Cities area in nearly two decades, but I suspect that this is a sign that there are cylopean deities in the theatre world.
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