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<DIV><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>Hi everyone;</FONT></FONT><FONT
size=3></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3></FONT></FONT><FONT
size=3> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>I've been away from my computer for three
weeks and finally got a chance to pick up my email. I'm curious--I haven't
seen any discussion on Don Rubin's Lennoxville remarks yet. I understand
he has gotten quite a few personal responses, though. I find this
odd. I imagined that this topic (critical theatrical complacency) would
spark off a discussion at least as interesting as the one about top ten lists,
which generated quite a heated debate, as I recall.</FONT></FONT><FONT
size=3></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3></FONT></FONT><FONT
size=3> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>I am not a professional critic or an academic. I make no
claims to having the 'one truth', either. But I am definitely a theatre artist
and someone deeply passionate about theatre. And I find the lack of
response to his challenge (and I read it as a call to arms, of sorts)
concerning.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Does this mean that perhaps he has a point? Is the lack
of response merely another form of complacency? Or is it that people out
there prefer to keep their opinions to themselves (or via private email)?
I personally am willing to agree with most of his points. I think the
theatre scene is indeed stagnant and could use some shaking up, that we quite
desperately need artists and critics who are not afraid to speak out and take
the heat for it, and that we as a society are holding fast to the status quo
despite declining attendance and theatre closures. Are we so very afraid
that we cannot speak our minds about our art? Are we so satisfied with the
way things are that we feel there is no need for change? What kind of
theatre do we want in this country? What are we willing to do to get
it?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3><FONT color=#000000>We all know the numbers. Houses
average about 30% right now. Experimentation is often out of the question.
Collective and enviromental theatre is rare. Resident playwrights are
almost non-existent. </FONT>These are very real problems with very real
financial concerns at the root. It seems to me that the only way to solve
the problem is to make theatre popular again. Fun. Hip. We
need to make theatre an event, a happening, an adventure for both the artists
and the audience. And this is simply not going to happen if we continue to
hold fast to the staus quo. Artists need to take risks, critics need to
push for change and audiences need to start having fun again. Someone
needs to stand up and be brave enough to say, "I don't think this is
working for me anymore. Give me somethng new, for God's sake!"
I think we are, as Mr. Rubin pointed out, chickenshit. We like our
conventions. We are accustomed to the way things are. And I suspect
we are terrified of change. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=3>There are pockets of interesting work happening
around the country, to be sure. But these pockets must be supported, if
not financially, then at least critically. Otherwise (like with film and
television), spin-offs and sequels may be the next logical step in our
downfall. God forbid we ever wake up to our morning papers only to find a
reivew of the new Megamusical: Kitties, the Next
Generation. </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=3></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=3> Mr. Rubin has thrown down the
guantlet. Any takers?</FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>