Sweet Sweet

 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award                                                                                                   

Congratulations to Tony Kushner on this award. It led me to wonder about his and other awards. I know that Lynn Nottage is one of the current recipients of the The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award" which is valued at $500,000 over 5 years.

What wonderful support for playwrights.   The Siminovitch Prize  is our most valuable and prestigious prize and that is shared among several disciplines. And yet we hear constant questions questioning the value of the arts. I mean some people get it. They get the necessity of why beauty and joy and challenges are necessary for the imagination of everyone. Why work that provokes and questions can lead to new ways of thinking and open the avenues to different ways of seeing.

But mostly what we hear is from people who think that if they don't "get it" then it is useless. If I hear again how easy it would be to create some piece of abstract art and sell it for a million. And what a waste of money that is I will send that person a paint set and say show me. I'll say that I am from Missouri and if it is so easy then do it. Make the money. Gloat your way down to Florida. And if you can't then please try to understand that art is never as easy as it looks. The execution may be easy but the inspiration and desire and thought comes from a place that was encouraged and enriched by many others over years. And for all art there is an audience for which that work hits deep and hard. And wouldn't that be better? To be big enough to have art enough of any and all kinds so that everyone who chooses can have something that speaks to them.

Sunday Quickie

The Necessity of Theater; The Art of Watching and Being Watched       

The Madness of STRIKETHROUGH

True and False

Theatre & Waste

Theatre Pollution Threat        

So this was the headline that got my attention. It links to The Stage and talks about the pollution that is on the rise at UK theatres. There is also a link to Glyndebourne gaining approval to build a wind turbine to power their theatre.

Ok so there is no way that we will be seeing wind turbines powering theatres in the Distillery District any time soon but it got me to thinking how much waste is generated everytime we do a show.  

The set of The Monument was a beautiful raised disc set on two by four's and covered with a canvas. Since we were downstairs at Berkeley they could just open the load in doors, drop the disposal bin and have at the set with skilsaws and within 30 mintes the whole thing was cut up and gone.  I hated to see that but what else could we do. There is no place to store sets anymore and no one wants the wood.  

With our current shows we are in a slightly better position since 3 of the 4 set pieces for Late are already spoken for and the metal panels can be re-cycled yet we still have the most expensive piece, a kitchen island, that unless we can find a home for it will either have to be stored or have the hardware stripped off it and then throw it out. 

Obsidian has a storage locker full to the brim of props, costumes and old set pieces. I always thought that they were worth keeping since they might be used for future shows but that really doesn't seem to happen. Everything gets built or bought and the old stock just becomes fodder for moths. I am not sure what to do. Yes we can hold sales and see if we can move some of the stuff out but that is a big undertaking if we do it ourselves. I wonder how many other theatres are in the same position and if there are a few then perhaps a group sale might be the way to go. At least it would help amortize the costs of the whole thing and maybe these items could get a new lease on life.

I wish that there was a way to not feel like an ecological Genghis Khan every time we do a show. I would welcome any suggestions. Oh and if you are looking for a kitchen island, yellow formica table with four chairs or a 10 x 8 used only once light grey carpet let me know.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm?

First there is this Cultural Olympiad plans unveiled

and then there is this Art VIPs plot election strategy