I just finished reading Charles McNulty's commentary "Our Playwrights Get Lonely on the Cutting Edge" recently published in the LA Times. It's been circulating amongst theater folks via blogs and listserves since it appeared on April 22nd, but the topic has been discussed time and time again.
A bit of it:
To be an up-and-coming playwright today is to be unavoidably part of a grass-roots effort. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. Though in a decadently corporate era — when "branding" is the highest creed not just for soda and cereal manufacturers but for the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers in politics, the arts and even foreign policy — it's hard for the not-yet-famous to stay on the radar, let alone pay the rent, secure health insurance and scrounge a few hours a week for creative fulfillment.
Right on. I like lots of what Mr. McNulty addresses in his piece. And I think it's great that it's being talked about in a mainstream publication by a critic many folks respect.
First and foremost I consider myself a playwright. My artistic upbringing has evolved around writing for the stage. But as I embark on my career with wholehearted intentions, I have to wonder "how the hell am I going to survive?" (Unfortunately, the current state of American theater isn't the most plush place for a Black female playwright to set up shop.) To be a playwright is a career path that can take a variety of twists and turns. I've been fortunate enough to receive a few advantages, but there is absolutely no guarantee I'll make it (even the concept of "making it" is up for interpretation.). There is no guarantee my work will get produced, acknowledged or supported. I'm floating in a sea of question marks and unknowns with only my passion and drive to keep me afloat.
Decoding the how has become an important task. How can I continue to grow as an artist? How can
continue to push myself and the work I create? How can I support myself?
I'm thinking I might have to broaden my range to include other artistic mediums: fiction, film, television, radio etc. I might have to acquire more tools for expression: internet, self-publishing, podcasting. We are living in an age of "do it yourself," and I think it's important for playwrights to consider these and other resources.
To be a playwright is to be a hustler, creator and entrepreneur. To be a playwright is to be an activist, a conversationalist, an envelope pusher.
1 comment:
I haven't read this article yet; but can use the excuse that in the Midwest it takes a while for things to trickle in...
The one excerpt that you did post is right on. I feel more and more that if I want my stuff staged that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and let my untenable (and silly) notions of being a playwright die...i.e. sit back and watch a director and actors struggle through the process while I sit sipping coffee, observing and commenting...parceling my insight and wisdom regarding the characters as it were.
I've come more to realize that I will need to role up my sleeves and dig in. If I'm lucky enough to have space, I'll have to find the actors, a director, anything else to accompany the performance--the less props the better. This is why I think a full community and support network is critical; after all, play making is a community event!
We seem to be slipping back into the 60s where the dominant theatres controlled what was up, i.e. Broadway, and so-called off-Broadway; and a new generation of theatres, the off-off Broadway had to be created from scratch in church basements and coffee houses and abandoned buildings: La Mama, etc.
I make my living as a librarian because playwrighting alone will not bring it. I feel like a cop out, too. The struggling for me is forcing time into a schedule to write. If you're going to live off writing alone...well, that is very tough all around.
Regardless, I think it is necessity to consider other forms: screen and television. Screen is the myth-maker now and television is where the writers actually have power. Radio plays would be very cool by podcasting. David Mamet did some stuff like that with The Water Engine; and I with freely uploading stuff to iTunes and blogs and RSS, I think there is market to really push stuff out.
Being in a library I actually recently dug up a "how-to" book from the 30s on writing for radio. It was last checked out in 1974, I think.
I've got a site that I'm trying to keep up with too--in Cleveland, OH.
Keep fighting and wrighting!
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