So long, and thanks for all the fringe

The International Theatre Institute's World Theatre Day has come and gone, but you can read actor, playwright, and Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo's message here. It's worth reading, as are the many responses it inspired. My favorite was from Isaac Butler on Twitter, who has astute readings on arts and culture messages:

It seems to me that Fo's speech is obviously a mischievous provocation, but i don't know what it's trying to provoke. #newplay

— Isaac Butler (@parabasis) March 28, 2013

There are plenty of oppressed/disenfranchised artists in the world, and while I think I understand what Fo is conveying (good art needs pressure and shouldn't be afraid of criticizing the powerful), the message does seem slightly off. There are artists out there like David Cecil, who helped actors stage a play about being homosexual in Uganda and was deported from the country for his trouble. Doing theatre and art isn't easy to begin with, and finding a voice you can carry to your audiences that resonate with them is even more difficult. The issue is mainly that there are so many of us and so many voices vying for our attention, that the important messages get lost. Local Chris Hewitt of the Pioneer Press writes this week on the new season of Park Square Theatre. There are big name actors in Park Square's season (including Desperate Housewives star James Denton), but also work by local playwright Carson Kreitzer and Park Square directing debuts by Joe Chvala and Amy Rummenie. This Week in Fringe It is with regret that I report that the Minnesota Fringe's Executive Director Robin Gillette will be leaving the organization in the fall after the festival's 20th anniversary. Robin's been with the Minnesota Fringe since September 2006, and her seven year run has seen an increase in attendance, box office payout, and individual donors. Not only that, she has indulged this humble podcaster for many interviews. Thanks for the great years, Robin. I hope your next gig will be just as rewarding as the Minnesota Fringe, and when I see you at Fringe Central this year, you are owed a drink on me. National There's a hubbub over at Playwrights Horizons surrounding their current production of Annie Baker's The Flick. The play is a critical darling, but the subscriber base of Playwrights Horizons have been vocal about the running time of three hours. And it's not that the show lacks an intermission, it's that some patrons are taking the intermission as an opportunity to leave. The problem seems to be the length, not the content. To me, it's odd that a person would leave a show early, then take the time afterward to complain about its length. Odder still that a company known for producing new, ambitious work should apologize for it. Would there be an apology if audiences left because of smoking and complained about it? How about an apology if audiences found the content too shocking? International A few weeks ago I discussed the growing trend of microtheatres in Spain. It seems that Spaniards have additional problems to deal with at the box office--namely a Value Added Tax (VAT) rate jump from 8 to 21 percent. A recent report has noted that a drop in audiences by a third occurred after that jump. This was predicted to have dire consequences (and an actual decrease to the taxes collected), and that prediction appears to be coming true. I would be more selective of my theatre choices too, and I bet touring companies would be even more concerned about their bottom lines. Learn To Love Being Boss That's the advice to women who want to be directors in this article by Louise Hung. The Twin Cities has a particularly strong showing of female directors--Claire Avitabile, Carin Bratlie, Leah Cooper, to name an alphabetical few. More female directors means that more young women will be inspired to follow after them. If we see someone like ourselves doing work that we love, it may be all the incentive we need to reach higher than we thought possible. If they can do it, why can't you or I? Arts Experiments I learned this week that CERN has a resident artist--which got me thinking: what other artists have paired with the hard sciences for projects? Here are the events and projects my crowd-sourcing came up with: The Encyclopedia Show covers a wide variety of topics, many of them science-based. The Theatre of Public Policy's more popular shows tend to be those that intersect with science. And you'll see a lot of familiar names for the Science Live Theatre at the Science Museum of Minnesota. In Short Here are a few items left on the cutting room floor this week: The Great Plains Theatre Conference is upcoming May 25th to June 1st in Omaha, Nebraska. The Minneapolis International Film Festival schedule is up and available for perusal. MRAC grants have gone out--you can read more on that here, along with a full list of recipients at MRAC.org. Fare Thee Well, Sir And finally, Richard Griffiths passed away last week, and it made me wish that I'd seen him on stage instead of just onscreen. Rest in peace, sir. You will be missed. --- 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].