Innovation, criticism, and problematic plays

Over the weekend, I went to a podcasting workshop organized by Twin Cities Community Radio. I've been trying to step up the quality of Twin Cities Theater Connection over the past couple months, mainly by consuming other podcasts on podcasting, and I've been pleased with the effort and reformatting of my show. My goal has largely been expanding the audience, so the scope of the show has broadened in response. In addition to a discussions on a show or company, more news and reviews/previews of local work is featured. In many ways, writing this column has helped center the podcast, as I feel more connected to what's happening in the community. A podcast isn't merely a resource though; it's also a networking tool, and it helps people--friends, family, fans--stay abreast of what you're doing. It's a way to have your voice heard. Think about the art you're doing or the message you want to send, and find an avenue for it in the digital realm. This is in no way restricted to podcasts; blogs, videos, a clever twitter handle, these are all tools available to you in the digital media workshop. Sure, you might have to learn how to shoot a video or edit audio, but anyone who's reading this column shouldn't be anxious about learning a new skill or pushing the boundaries of their creativity. Make something! Make more! Onward! Local, National (in short) Actors Sun Mee Chomet and Stephen Yoakam, along with music director Denise Prosek, have been awarded $25,000 McKnight fellowships. Congratulations! Northern Spark is this weekend, along with its plethora of events, a few of which will be at Bedlam Lowertown! The Tony Awards are on June 9th, and the New York Times has a whole section devoted to it, with ballots, interviews, and who got snubbed. Silence in Negotiation Silence can be a particularly powerful tactic in performance, but if you're a freelance artist, it can also be an ally at the negotiation table. This (and the many other negotiation skills linked in the article) might be helpful to you if you're deciding to make that leap toward becoming an independent artist. Innovation I've been reading more fiction lately and have been happily surprised that there are stories out there by writers like Lev Grossman that speak to me. These stories aren't new, per se, but they are new to me, a landscape that is at once familiar, but also alien enough to keep me engaged. But innovative? Charting innovation, as Caridad Svich mentions in her introductory blog post to TCG Circle's curated series on innovation, in unquantifiable. To get the chance to really innovate, you need the time (and the funds) to explore. It may be that the exploration turns up little, but down the line? It's comparable to basic science research--studies involving fruit flies may seem silly or wasteful, but they're model organisms that can begin to give us an idea of how our own bodies react and develop, and that could lead to innovative technology. So too with exploration in the arts. True, you might fail to create anything innovative or groundbreaking. But you may still create new work. This Week in Theatre Criticism There's no pleasing anyone (maybe least of all actor/writers)--either theatre critics are hated because they give a show a bad review, or they're called out for not being critical enough. Take those kid gloves off, theatre critics. No one's going to be pleased with what you do anyway, so dust off that barbed wit and acidic prose and have a party. I posted this news item on my Twitter feed and a follower brought up the softness of video game criticism--that positive reviews go to mediocre games, that there's pressure to write good reviews because, in turn, a game publisher like Electronic Arts could decide to just not send you video games for reviews or lock you out of press events. I'm not positive the follower actually read the link about theatre criticism and just assumed I was linking to an article on video game criticism, but I can see some parallels. Comp tickets and games both could be seen as a gift, and a critic may be subconsciously influenced to write a better review. Although theatre companies wouldn't typically have the resources to put pressure on a critic or reviewer that a billion-dollar company might. Comments are below for anyone who would like to vehemently disagree because Dominic Papatola give them a bad review that one time when he came to their show for free. "How To Be a Fan of Problematic Things" From a modern standpoint, The Taming of the Shrew is a problematic play. Staging it requires either a light touch or a ballsy send-up of its gender politics. I'm a fan of the play and I like seeing it staged, even if it is sexist. At WISCon (the "Women in Secularism Conference," not "Wisconsin Con," as I keep reading it), there was a panel with the above topic, mostly in lines of fandom for movies and books. But we're all theatre fans here, and not adverse to problematic performances or discussing them, and we can take away a few items: 1. If you like a show and someone points it out as racist or sexist, be open to hearing those different opinions, and be prepared to research and reassess your own. 2. "... everyone," the writer points out, "draws their lines differently." Be conscious of your lines and the lines of others*. We're all on different paths through the wilderness. 3. So you like a problematic play? OWN IT. Acknowledge its faults and idiosyncrasies while also conveying what you absolutely adore. Dear reader, what's a problematic play that you love anyway? Kickstart Those Engines I've written about Kickstarter before in this column, specifically surrounding how Kickstarter should be used vs. how it is used in practice. As I mentioned during the column regarding Zach Braff and his use of the crowd-sourcing platform, I prefer my Kickstarter projects to be unique, something that might not otherwise find a grounding through traditional funding methods. Two have come my way in the last week that fit into my totally arbitrary Kickstarter stance. The first is from Cole Walsh out of Los Angeles, CA who is working on the "functional documentary" Audition Secrets, interviews with top Twin Cities theatre directors about the audition process. These include interviews with Bain Boehlke, Ron Peluso, Peter Brosius, Wendy Knox, and Michelle Hensley. The trailer reveals that these interviews are complete and the main thrust of the Kickstarter campaign is post-production. The second comes from comedian Joseph Scrimshaw, whose ambitious Kickstarter Flaw Fest is a combination stand-up comedy/music album featuring himself and talent like Bill Corbett, Paul & Storm, and John Munson riffing on human flaws. I do not want to be in the business of plugging Kickstarter campaigns every week--that's just opening me up to producers starting Kickstarter pages for their upcoming Minnesota Fringe shows and overwhelming me with links. But these two projects are primed for what Kickstarter can do best--giving those projects with a niche audience a chance at survival. --- And I'm spent! If you have feedback or comments on any of the articles above, or suggestions for future blog and news items, please leave them in the comments or e-mail me at [email protected]. *Also good acting advice.