Friday, April 1, 2011

I HATE THEATRE


“Let us move this city like never before…”
The above quote  is part of an internet event chant that I read that got me angry and sad. But the thought also exited me and I started craving for possibilities and became hopeful for the things that could be. I am a dreamer. I am an artist. I am no longer happy with the status quo. The existing conditions offer no imagination, no inspiration and are complacent in expectations and projections. If I told you the show was cancelled and rehearsals were halted, what would you do or say? What if I told you to put your brush down, turn the camera off, hangup your glue gun, or put a tarp over your sculpture? What would you do or say? What if I told you we longer needed your art?

I am reminded of one of my favorite paintings
"A Clown" by Honore Daumier. I have an ardent attachment to the immediacy and the emotional depth and power of this painting. I'm drawn to the hunched drummer in the background. He is not downstage on a chair in the light but humbly supporting and performing. Listening and watching. One piece of the whole act. We feel like we have caught them in action by the drummer's stick and the clown's gestures. The artist used several strokes and variations instead of one. Yet none of the lines seem excessive. In their unison they almost produce a cinematic movement. Maybe the artist was interrupted? And maybe the artist should be interrupted.


I love reading and interpreting play scripts. I am devoted to the active art of bringing artists together and encouraging and collaborating with them to create a special world upon a stage. A feeling and a thought. An experience. I am attracted to the art of composing on the stage working with all the elements that each artist brings to the play. The actor, the designer and the technician with all their tools. Auditions make me nervous. Rehearsals are the heart of the production. Opening night sucks. The run of a production is the last breath of rehearsals the audience a mistress. And closing night is bittersweet. I love reading and interpreting play scripts, but I hate the arts and feel I have been interrupted.

All my world is a stage and I want more. I want big expectations and challenges for myself, fellow artists and the audience. And I want bold progressive actions from our local civic leaders and local arts producers and related organizations and their leaders. Move us like never before. Remove the interruptions.

Artists bring a paintbrush
Writers bring a pad
Actors bring your voice
Musicians bring your instrument
Dancers bring your body
Dreamers bring your imagination
Let us move and create like never before....

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
Dr. Seuss

Coming Soon....I Hate Theatre Part III...new plays.