TheatreFace
Putting a Face on Theatre
What Should I Write About?
So, I've been blogging here at TheatreFace for more than seven months now, and it occurs to me that I began my tenure here by expressing the hope that this blog would offer opportunities to connect with people... and it most certainly has. The exchanges I've had with folks--typically in the comments on my posts, but also on Twitter and Facebook--have been very gratifying. I've been challenged, I've been inspired, and I've learned a great deal. I hope the same is true for anyone who's been reading along.
What also occurred to me is that never in my time here have I explicitly asked people what they'd like me to think and write about. For as often as I've advocated for the need for writers to stay connected to their audiences and to serve them in whatever ways make sense, I'm appalled to realize that I've never asked a simple question: what do you want me to write about? So I ask that question now, and I hope that you'll answer.
I realize it's sort of a ham-fisted question: one that people might be reluctant to answer at all, but especially not in public (though you can email me here on TheatreFace, or on my own blog, and I'll be able to take private requests). Nobody wants to be the first to ask... but this is an instance in which I think it's important to ask nonetheless. I really do want to be of service, and that's easier to do if I know what might be useful.
Of course, I'm not qualified to write about everything; far from it. I ran a few light boards back in the day, for instance, but I would be foolish to try to blog about the subject... especially when my estimable colleagues here have the subject so well covered. So what can I write about?
Well, there's the business of playwriting, which I've tried to cover from time to time: query letters, contest submissions, letters of reference, reviews. There's also the intersection between technology and theater: twitter, playwriting software, and that sort of thing. And then, finally, there's the art itself: acting (or not acting) for playwrights, the well-made play, speed writing, and so on. Those are what I consider my areas of expertise. Is there anything in those categories that makes you curious and want to know more?
I'll share a few ideas I've been thinking about and/or planning for the near future, too, in the hope that these might inspire strong positive or negative responses or suggest additional topics:
- A survey of useful and interesting theater blogs
- Once-a-month posts describing a devised theater project I'm beginning this fall
- Profiles of playwrights doing interesting things
- A data crunch on my own play submissions over the past few years
- Marketing our work to each other
- Letters of reference... specifically, how dreadful I think they are
So, is there anything you might add to that list?
Views: 1
Tags: ideas, soliciting
Comment
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Comment by Gwydion Suilebhan on July 31, 2011 at 7:54pm -
Sorry it's taken so long to reply, Richard -- I've been tending to a family emergency.
Great subjects (though I think you've written your own mini-blog posts already!) -- I'll add them to the list. Thanks!
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Comment by Richard T. Young on July 25, 2011 at 7:23pm -
Gwydion - Hi.
How about nudity on stage? Yea, I know old topic, but . . .
I think I'm with Jeffery Sweet who, to paraphrase, thinks it doesn't works because a naked person on stage in and of itself calls so much attention to the nakedness that it takes the audience out of the play. I've seen some nudity in live theatre (in very sophisticated and professional circumstances) and that "takes one out of the play" feeling was mostly my experience. The ladies sitting next to me for Elephant Man were . . . well that was about all they talked about afterward. What think you?
Here's another idea. I saw The Little Mermaid in pre NY previews in Denver. Years later when I saw it again it was in the touring version in St. Louis. The spectacle had been dramatically reduced. It's hard to quantify, but I think there was easily 70% less spectacle. I understand the financial and technical restrictions of touring, but I felt like a lot of the show was lost. How much can you take away and still consider it a Broadway show on tour?
One more. When we in the academy do weird avant-garde theatre, as wonderful as it might be, are we really preparing our students for the real world of trying to make a living as a theatre artist? I read about a University production of Measure for Measure that had been so "modernized" that they even changed the title to "Tit for Tat." The production included Idi Amin and a host of Tele-evangelist. Fun stuff. But what part of the real world of theatre, especially commercial theatre are those students being prepared for? Can you steep a student in Artaud and then send her out into the real world to do Weber?
Love your blog. Thanks much.
Richard
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Comment by Gwydion Suilebhan on July 20, 2011 at 7:49pm
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Thanks, Aaron -- that's a great idea. Consider it done in the next couple of months!
And thank you for the kind words, too!
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Comment by Aaron Crosby on July 20, 2011 at 7:48pm -
One interesting topic that I would love to hear your opinion on is the balance of power between playwright, producer, director, and designers. I've noticed the line is quite blurry and can sometimes be overstepped by one or all of those involved. How should this group work together to create the "best" artistic experience possible? Just one thought...Thanks for all your great insight on other topics!
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Comment by Gwydion Suilebhan on July 20, 2011 at 6:23pm
- Okay -- one comment submitted via email, and it's a doozy: two great ideas, both having to do with the playwright/director relationship. Any others?
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Comment by Gwydion Suilebhan on July 20, 2011 at 11:23am
- Don't all rush in to comment at once :)
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