Happy Season-Announcing Season!
'Tis the season!
Once again it's that magical time of the year, when the frozen face of winter begins to crack, and all the promise of a new, vibrant, life-fulfilling year stands before us like so many freshly-budding flowers. Yes, it's Season-Announcing Season, when all the theaters in town lay out their carefully-planned lineups for the coming theater year, each one meticulously planned over the course of many hundreds of hours of thought to send some sort of grand message to the world, which we will quickly forget once the excitement of the announcement fades away.
As per usual, the big boys in town are the first ones out of the gate with their season announcements. CTC is reviving some of its greatest hits while throwing in some new premieres. Park Square is giving us a mix of classics and premieres, along with hosting several guest companies. And even the Guthrie has its own mix of classics and premieres and guest companies.
Of course, this being the new Joe's first full season at the big G, everyone is lining up to analyze it. Is it a radical break with the past? Not exactly. Does it address the old diversity issues that the previous Joe angrily denied ever existed? To a certain extent. Will it make everyone happy? Come on, when has anything ever done that?
In the weeks to come, prepare yourself for the onslaught of other big season announcements in the Twin Cities that promise everything under the sun. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And maybe, just maybe, you'll learn a little something about yourself.
In the meantime, Happy Season-Announcing Season!
Shock and ugh
Something horrible is happening in London. (Besides the way they keep using the word "Brexit" with a straight face) The National Theatre is producing Sarah Kane's Cleansed, and everyone is losing their damned minds. The brutally graphic production has caused sensitive Londoners to faint. Less sensitive but more indignant audience members have walked out. Everyone's just agog and aghast and struggling to get a handle on it.
Weird, huh? A play still has the power to shock in a world where Eli Roth has a career. Critics in the UK have been falling all over themselves to figure out why this 20-year-old play can still pack such a visceral reaction. After all, Grand Guignol already covered all this extreme stage violence a century ago. Is it because the play is written by a woman and we're all put off by women expressing violent thoughts?
I think the Guardian newspaper got to the heart of the matter though, in asking the question "Is theater challenging enough?" It's the sort of question that we love to talk about in our own country, but rarely actually push to the limits. That's something to think about as we plunge ahead into Season-Announcing Season. Guthrie, I am expecting people to faint and storm out of your production of Sense and Sensibility. Don't let me down.
Trust me, this play is gonna be huge, I guarantee it
I love keeping up on politics. I really do. It's what I watch instead of sports. Unfortunately, this being a theater column, I rarely talk about politics here, except for the occasional invective for all of you to get off your collective asses and freaking vote already, because every single election, even the midterm ones (actually, especially the midterm ones) is important. Of course, every once in a while, a President attends a play, but how often does a President's attendance at a play have really big, news-worthy repercussions? (OK, one time.)
I know that most of my readers are probably on the liberal side of things, and I can't go a full scroll down my Facebook feed without one of you posting about how much this whole Trump thing worries you. I know, I know, you think he'll be the next Hitler; but let's be honest, we've elected an angry, racist, nativist, bullying demagogue with a vaguely populist platform before, and our great nation still survived long enough to invent microwaveable mac & cheese. True, that angry, racist, nativist, bullying demagogue Andrew Jackson did help disastrously crash our economy, but it wasn't like he led a genocide. (OK, one genocide.)
I'm trying to make you feel less fearful about Donald Trump, and I'll admit that I'm not doing so well, so let me try this: Donald Trump is actually a big Broadway fan. And it's not because singing show tunes supposedly fights dementia; seriously, the Donald loves him some Broadway. So much so, in fact, that back in 1970 he put up his own money (well, probably his dad's money) to fund the Broadway premiere of the comedy Paris Is Out! Seriously. I'm not making that up.
How did it do? About as well as Trump Mortgage, Trump Casinos, Trump Steaks and just about every other Trump business venture. By that, I mean, it flopped big time.
And he's leading his party's nomination for President. Isn't politics fun? Why don't I write about it more often?
One more thing to think about
We've talked a lot in this column over the past few months about the ongoing sex abuse lawsuits at Children's Theatre Company. It's something for which I have had a hard time finding the right words, because, well, damn, just look at the situation. It's really easy for us to get bogged down in the particulars of who's suing who, and who's angry at who for saying what, but as in all cases like this, we really shouldn't forget about the people who were affected. That's why I think everyone should read the recent article from the Star Tribune that looks at the story by actually interviewing the people who were affected. Please, just read it.
