tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post6027439261305487983..comments2024-02-27T16:59:54.089-05:00Comments on (The New) Theatre Ideas: Gates of OpportunityUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-82454540029393369022010-01-27T15:42:48.162-05:002010-01-27T15:42:48.162-05:00Well, that's interesting, cgeye. D & D use...Well, that's interesting, cgeye. D & D used Open Space technology (the format of the meeting). I think those sorts of things can be very helpful -- yes, it moves the discussion forward. But if Sean's takeaway is any indication, and RLewis' cranky comment as well, the lack of guidance offered by Open Space technology may be a problem. If the solution is "just do the work," well, I mean how is that different than the current orientation? Here is one of the problems I see -- and I wrote about this a couple years ago and requoted from it today -- most theatre artists don't know much beyond their own experience. They haven't read the reports or reflected on the deeply, they haven't examined the annual stats put together by the NEA, Americans for the Arts, RAND, WolfBrown, or anyone else -- they just want to know, as one person in the D & D sessions asked, how to get more people to come to their shows. Until we broaden our horizons and start getting a sense of the field as a whole, and not just our little piece of the world, we won't get very far, in my opinion.Scott Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465161646609405658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-56535527475944216192010-01-27T15:21:56.388-05:002010-01-27T15:21:56.388-05:00What about the Devoted and Disgruntled discussions...What about the Devoted and Disgruntled discussions Phelim McDermott has been facilitating? The one in NYC happened the same weekend as the Black Playwrights Conference, so I understand why many of the blogs I read haven't covered it. <br /><br />Sean Rants did:<br />http://www.seanrants.com/2010/01/devoted-and-disgruntled.html<br /><br />It would be a beginning for us to simply talk to each other in a respectful, moderated way, right?<br /><br /><br />And, as for me and my city, we have the CREATE DENVER conference, which might at least provide a forum for such leaders to emerge:<br /><br />http://www.denvergov.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.denvergov.org/economicdevelopmentcgeyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16760705749940311464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-49608011142679669752010-01-25T13:17:09.326-05:002010-01-25T13:17:09.326-05:00Hey, I'm collecting models at this point, and ...Hey, I'm collecting models at this point, and this one's going in the hopper for sure, my reservations not withstanding.<br /><br />But so are Adam Smithian models. I am not as fearful of that ghostly hand as many in my profession.Paul Mullinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12275232691190109010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-9730393171841246722010-01-25T13:04:42.561-05:002010-01-25T13:04:42.561-05:00Maybe. Or maybe it would be you, Paul! We need to ...Maybe. Or maybe it would be you, Paul! We need to keep in mind that the alternative is letting the "invisible hand" of the market take its course. How's that working for you?Scott Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465161646609405658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-63247218055128732872010-01-25T13:01:15.205-05:002010-01-25T13:01:15.205-05:00Thanks as always, Scot, for pointing out valuable ...Thanks as always, Scot, for pointing out valuable resources. I look forward to reading this report, and like the fact that I can just print it for free instead of paying $14.95 and waiting, interminably it seems, for my copy of <i>Outrageous Fortune </i> to show up.<br /><br />The sort of "catalytic art czar" model you mention is one I'll need to noodle on a bit more. Unfortunately, I can see it flopping in a lot of different ways, but right of the bat I would assume it would be used as a sort of sinecure for some figure already ensconced in the existing failed system. (I'm hearing the selection panel discussions now "Of course such a person would need a post-graduate degree of some sort. That's only just a logical prerequisite.")Paul Mullinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12275232691190109010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-59257930578136922010-01-24T13:50:10.305-05:002010-01-24T13:50:10.305-05:00Here is what Dower writes in a section called &quo...Here is what Dower writes in a section called "Fellowships to Catalytic Leaders": In each community there is at least one individual with a vision and a sense f how to actualize their ideas. Create fellowships for these people. Put resources in their hands, ask them to curate their investment on behalf of strengthening the opportunities for emerging artists and support their efforts through convenings of the fellows, outreach to other philathropic resources within their communities, and publication and dissemination of their efforts. These would likely be multi-year fellowships but would rotate to others. Most of what is working in this sector [of new play development] is the outgrowth of a single vision, whether from an individual or an ensemble. Fostering continued growth and exploration for these individual leaders is perhaps the most effective way to serve the sector."<br /> So my description wasn't very clear. I think he is talking about individual communities outside of NYC, not The American Theatre, and within those communities is very much focused on the development of new plays and emerging artists (playwrights).Scott Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465161646609405658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-43550690966114855292010-01-24T12:53:36.603-05:002010-01-24T12:53:36.603-05:00I'm fascinated by the question of whether the ...I'm fascinated by the question of whether the foundations could have chosen someone, in any decade since WWII, who could have/would have led us to a better American Theatre than we enjoy today?<br /> <br />Robert Edmond Jones? Strasberg? Clurman? Margo Jones? Molina? Ellen [La Mama] Stewart? An artistic director at a successful regional theatre?Calhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09133083539063814636noreply@blogger.com