Off Stage Conversations

Hello, it's Andie Arthur, Executive Director of the South Florida Theatre League, and I'm here with Off Stage Conversations, where I take a look at what the national and international theatre community is thinking about.

On the Death of the Pure Aesthetic

The pure aesthetic has created a monoculture called the American theater—two act dramatic realism by white playwrights with white actors watched by white audiences with a talkback after the show thrown in for anybody still awake.

The pure aesthetic is death to diversity of thought, image, performance, practice.

Believing in the pure aesthetic is like believing that a market economy is the one and only economy. And we are marketing in an economy of the pure aesthetic and the result: theater isn’t for everyone; it’s for those with a solid standing in that market economy.

Another really smart article from Polly Carl

Rejection

Playwright Monica Byrne posts a really great piece about all the opportunities she hasn't gotten as a playwright, pointing out that all those rejections were critical steps towards her current success (multiple productions and her novel is being published). Melissa Hillman points out why this outlook is crucial.

Changing the Status Quo

Any article that starts out with an artistic director stating that most theatre is boring gets my attention. Sean Holmes of the UK's Secret Theatre breaks down what he views as problematic in the current theatrical infrastructure and what he's doing that's different.

Boards are Bored

Joan Lancourt discusses board best practices.

Funding Issues

Diane Ragsdale looks at funding dilemmas from the point of view of the funder.