Performance news 12.08.10

Local playwright Carson Kreitzer earned a National Endowment for the Arts grant, as reported by Ed Huyck of City Pages. Congratulations, Ms. Kreitzer! Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs sums up her online discussion about local arts coverage. The biggest complaint about local coverage: "Many agreed that while there may be a number of stories out there, the style of journalism isn't to their liking. Either they're glorified calendar listings, booster-ish features or shallow reviews geared towards 'should I go or not' decision-making." Combs also looks at what arts funding will be like with the regime change in local government, interviewing Sheila Smith of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts. The Republicans lawmakers want to cut, cut, cur, of course, but Smith offers these comforting words: "In 2008, 56% of Minnesotans voted to put the arts into our state's constitution. Minnesotans do not view the arts as optional." The American Theatre Wing points out a few recent examples of theaters seeming to mock their own audience, and asks "Do we respect them in the morning?": "But taken together, the minor incidents above indicate an inherent disregard for the audience. Even when it remains largely out of sight and earshot, an insider’s game for those in the know, I have grown concerned about the 'us and them' quality of these ostensibly funny moments which occur, no question, all too often if you work inside a theatre." The New Play Institute was created to, in their words, "research and development of effective practices, programs, and processes for new-play development in the American theater." They recently released on monograph on their finding, which can be found here. Among the questions they ask: Do we really want diversity?