Posted on Oct 28, 2014
I’m working on something new. I’m in the early stages, just writing and booking dates, but, by golly, it’s fun! All I know is this: It will happen in Boulder and then Fresno, CA in the Spring. It will be wild, ridiculous, and will center around a teenage girl’s undying admiration for a controversial historical figure. I need an awesome hat. Not just any hat, but a really special one. This hat has to be a replica, NOT a costume hat. [I only know this because that’s what my character tells me.] I feel like a slingshot. A piece of popcorn. This one’s going to be big. Fall feels like a good time for all this....
Read More
Posted on May 5, 2013
I hate it when artists use the word “Innovation”. Here’s why: Innovation is a lie. It’s one of those buzzwords that we artists use to feed our own egos and make ourselves feel important. And creating art directly from the ego is a volatile practice at best. The art you create should transcend you. I know Mozart was an ass, but you can make the argument that in composing, that in music he was somehow able to transcend his own ass-y nature. If art is to reach even one stranger, then it has to be greater than you. Ego cannot create that because ego is all about itself, about you and it goes no further than that. (By the way, I’m not arguing that you can’t create art from a personal place, just that that you have to nourish the artwork as something outside yourself. You have to protect it, let it grow as something “other” and bigger than you.) Innovation is overrated. I hold to the old ways, the belief that art is a reflection of nature. If it isn’t a reflection of nature or directly play in contrast to nature then it is untrue and unreliable from the audience’s perspective. Your work has to be true. That means that somewhere the audience recognizes themselves in what you’re playing, whether it’s a tragic hero or a Mouseketeer. Often the pursuit of innovation as a goal results in the loss of that truth. Innovation overtakes truth and twists it into something unrecognizable. Innovation becomes an excuse for creating work that is hollow and mediocre. Innovation is impossible. In the seventies, thinking outside the box was an interesting artistic proposal, a departure from traditional theater practices. Nowadays, there is no such thing as traditional theater practices. People are making art in all sorts of ways and crossing boundaries all the time. Rebellion is only valuable if there is something to rebel against. There isn’t. Well, there’s still one thing to rebel against: bad art. Innovation is often used as some kind of gimmick, used to mask the fact that a piece of art is bad. What’s the point of innovation if what you have created is lifeless? Forget innovation, just focus on creating good art and entertaining people while you’re at it. That’s what this world needs more of. Challenge yourself as an artist, yes. Try new things and go...
Read More
Posted on Apr 30, 2013
Someone asked me recently what a director is. That is a good question, one that merits delving into a bit. Now, there are as many theories on and approaches to directing as there are directors. Someone once told me a director is an advocate for the audience. Sounds good, right? Another time a real live director told me his job was to move actors around the stage like furniture. Seriously. I would like to humbly offer my opinion on this subject and simultaneously warn you to beware people claiming to humbly offer their opinions on anything. If you really were that humble you wouldn’t offer your opinion in the first place. So when this person asked me what a director is I said many things, which I assume sounded pretty good but know were false. The truth is the process of devising and directing a show is messy and there isn’t any way to adequately prepare for it. There. I said it. It’s out there with millions of other pieces of data on the internet and it cannot be taken back. Here are some thoughts, though: An ideal director will be easily bored. If you feel numb watching the show you directed then that means the audience will too. If the director is aware enough to catch her/him/itself (I add “it” just in case robots take over the arts) when it gets bored watching its show, then it can avoid boring the show’s audience by adjusting the boring elements. I don’t know about any of you, but I doubt any concept I could come up with for a show would ever revolve around intentionally putting audience members to sleep. A director must love stories more than her/him/itself (dang robots again). We have to be able to set our gargantuan egos aside every once in a while, acknowledge that the phenomenal idea we have doesn’t work, and put the story first. Sometimes it is not about your “grand vision.” We are storytellers. Always. We can slap a Gucci dress on what we do, gussy it up, and take it out for a five star dinner, but at the end of the day we tell stories for a living. Period. A director must use what he/she/it has. In a very practical sense you have a budget and you need to stick to it. You may have to make compromises. On another...
Read More
