I was catching up on my theatre blogosphere search (of which I have been most delinquent) tonight and I came across Scott’s post at Theatre Ideas and I felt compelled to add my two cents in. I didn’t feel like merely commenting on his site (after all, that’s what my blog is for, right?).
Scott, I agree with you, but I think there’s one aspect that you’re missing. I’m going to state right off the bat that this is completely extemporaneous. I haven’t done, nor am I going to at this hour, any research or cite other people about this. There are just my thoughts.
I, too, enjoy the Annie Get Your Gun type theatre. I do believe there is a place for it. But, I will not sit through a production of Annie Get Your Gun as a piece of anti-second amendment propaganda.
That having been said, there are many more types of theatre to enjoy. I don’t like being lectured to when I go to the theatre. A thinly veiled political statement–or even one right out in the open–doesn’t appeal to my aesthetic. Does that mean there’s not a place for it? Not at all. It just means that those types of theatre won’t be getting my money at their box office…at least not directly.
I now tip my hat to the great Widgett at Needcoffee.com who has been a dear friend for life since high school. He and I literally share a brain. He is my mentor, friend and guide. He also slices, dices and makes julienne fries in minutes.
The most effective way to get a point across is to not lose sight of the story. If the political message outweighs the story, then the theatricality of the event is shot. I’m not there to listen to an essay and I don’t need someone else in my life trying to make me feel guilty all of the time. I get enough people trying to do that whenever I turn on the TV (it doesn’t always work, by the way). All things must serve the story. Without the story, nothing else matters. The characters don’t have a world to live in, ergo, they don’t live. A character that has no life has no buisiness trying to tell me how to run mine.
The same thing can be said of playwrights and directors. If you are so caught up in making a political statement, go out and make a speech or run for office or something. Don’t expect me to shower you with praise for a shitty piece of theatre just because I’m supposed to think your message is important!
The most effective way to make people think about a political statement is to present them with a story that allows them to connect with it more closely with the characters and their situation. The message of the story might not hit them until hours, days, or even weeks later, but it’s still there. You can’t write and produce good theatre merely on a theme, there has to be a story that holds everything together. The deeper and more truthful the story, the stronger the affect the theme will have on its audience.
Does that mean that I think all theatre has to be of the Leave It To Beaver or Norman Rockwell type? Not at all. Theatre can, and should, be edgy. To me, the phrase in-your-face has lost its meaning. I prefer to think of the smaller black box theatres where literally, the actors are in the audience’s face; but not yelling at the audience. Edgy and provocative theatre still has to follow the same rule: it must be about the story! You can write stories about characters who are on the fringe of society as long as the story provides them with a world where they can truly live. By the way, the fringe of society doesn’t always have to be a current political hot-button, either. You can write stories about characters who find themselves slipping or being drawn into the fringe by some inner or outer force, but it has to be about the character’s journey to the fringe that keeps us wanting more. We’ll get the message without having it stamped on our foreheads as we make our way to our seats–or worse yet, written on our face in the spittle shooting from the actors’ mouths.
Okay. I feel better now. I’ll now return the soapbox to its usual hidey hole.
