| So I don't think the American theatre is 'niche.' It's a thought laboratory. | |
| Last Edit: GrumpyMorningBoy 03:16 am EST 11/17/24 | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 03:02 am EST 11/17/24 | |
| In reply to: re: The Friday Kicker: is the American theatre helping or harming cultural polarization? - ryhog 02:54 am EST 11/16/24 | |
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| I could be wrong. I wouldn't be the first New Yorker to be accused of a little myopia. But the ideas that are getting kicked around within the American theatre, to me, absolutely DO feel like ideas that form, shape, and flow into more popular (and even populist) entertainment, whether that's TV, film, standup comedy, or animated film. I don't think of the American theatre as just another performing arts genre, say, alongside ballet, opera, or orchestral music. The American theatre is a cultural thought laboratory, exploring difficult, challenging ideas -- from race relations to gender norms. And it's easily a decade ahead of Hollywood. At least it has been for the last few decades. Is it elitist? God yes. I think about audiences who show up for Stoppard plays at Lincoln Center and laugh at literary references in works that simply could not play Peoria. I think about how simple stagecraft at the end of a play turned THE HUMANS into the talk of the town. But I also see how much A RAISIN IN THE SUN preceded and transformed Black representation on film... I think about how THE COLORED MUSEUM, FOR COLORED GIRLS... and TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992 sparked huge conversations that continued into the films of Spike Lee... I see how BOYS IN THE BAND, TORCH SONG TRILOGY, A NORMAL HEART, etc. preceded how gay men were depicted in "Will and Grace"... I see how M. BUTTERFLY and even HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH opened up conversations about transgender identity, long before "Transparent"... And those are just the last few decades. I wish that someone who knows their theatre history better than I could dive in and explore how agit-prop theatre like WAITING FOR LEFTY joined with Federal Theatre Project writers to influence the burgeoning labor rights movement, or how representation of women in American plays influenced their perceived roles in Hollywood as the womens-lib movement took hold across the country. So yes, ryhog, I'm probably asking us to analyze far too much here. But to answer my own question... I DO think that the American theatre, by and large, is largely preaching to the choir, further alienating ourselves from those who don't think the way we do. And while its actual influence is certainly debatable, I think the American theatre is worsening the polarization of America. Because as much as I'd love to imagine that THE PROM makes space for those who might not agree that queer girls should be able to bring their girlfriends to the high school dance, the work itself doesn't seem interesting in proselytizing. Across many recent Broadway plays and musicals, the 'bad guys,' -- whether they're racists, homophobes, or mere evangelicals -- are either mocked (HAIRSPRAY) or treated as uninformed (if well-meaning) antagonists ("Not My Father's Son," from KINKY BOOTS, "Periodically" from A STRANGE LOOP.) The main vibe of today's commercial theatre is largely simple: to create a kind of party atmosphere for those who are on board with the given ethic, implying that if you're an old stick in the mud, you're just missing out on all the fun and the free-flowing love. Maybe that's really what's going to sell tickets in a town like New York. Okay. But I can't help but wonder if talented playwrights, composers & lyricists could begin to look on working-class, uneducated (and yes, racist / sexist / xenophobic) Americans and write their stories with the same empathy that we've afforded other misunderstood people groups. I wonder whether urbane New Yorkers have any interest at all in understanding such people... Given the fact that they've just fucking chosen the leader of the free world, I do think maybe we should. I realize that I'm not making the most coherent points here. This is probably all a reflection of my own whirlwind of confusion coming out of this election. But even if it's unclear whether or not the American theatre should claim much responsibility for our polarization, I do think that the genre itself is uniquely capable of addressing and dismantling it. In part because of a point I raised above: that theatre's communal nature demands for us to sit alongside folks who might not, in fact, be quite like us. It can invite us to grapple with ideas together. I want to see new works that could speak to a polarized audience and help us see the world as it really is. - GMB |
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