This was supposed to be a clever post — one that I thought I’d renew annually — in which I assessed the track record of several major DC theaters with regard to how often they produce DC-area playwrights. I started to do the necessary research, however — looking up the 2011-2012 seasons of all the major theaters in DC and scanning the names of the people who wrote all the plays being produced — but I was immediately dismayed by the abominable early results.
Let me get to the bottom line. I reviewed the following theaters: Arena, Constellation, Folger, Ford’s, Forum, Olney, Rep Stage, Round House, Signature, Studio, Theater J, and Woolly Mammoth. I wanted to do more than that, but (recent personal events aside) disappointment sapped my strength. Of the 66 plays that will appear on those dozen stages, only three were written by playwrights who live in the DC area, as far as I can tell. That’s less than 5%. If it’s accurate, it seems tragic to me.
If I’d started to look at the smaller theaters — the devised work companies like Bright Alchemy, for example, or my own cadre of Taffety Punks, or the groups producing in the Fringe Festival — the numbers would surely get better. But the theaters I did look at, in the main, are our biggest stages, the places in which we collectively invest our most valuable resources and attention. And they aren’t returning that investment: not even close.
I am very happy to note the two exceptions to this finding: Arena Stage (which is producing two of the three locally-grown plays) and Theater J (which is producing the other — and which has commissioned an additional five). I’ve written and tweeted about both theaters for some time now, praising them for the work they’ve done to develop plays with artists who live in our community, and I’m not surprised by the fact that they continue to stand out in the crowd.
So… what to do about this, playwrights? Do we start boycotting the theaters that don’t produce our work? We need to do something, frankly, because the system is broken, and it’s not worth playing along any more.
I’m open to suggestions.
Nearly half of Constellation’s scripts are adaptations by Allison Stockman—shouldn’t that factor in considering they only do older plays or revisions of older plays?
I suppose it might count, though it feels a bit off. An adaptation of an old play isn’t the same thing as a new play, I’m sure you’ll agree, though it is definitely a creative endeavor.
My review of Constellation’s upcoming season would suggest that none of the four plays they have programmed fall into that category; if they do, they haven’t indicated as much on their site. No DC-area playwright, Allison included, is listed as the author of any of their upcoming productions.
Hey G,
I’ve been thinking about your post a lot these past two days. I’d like to put out a counter-suggestion for your consideration.Â
A boycott seems to me will serve (among other things) to disconnect the playwrights and the work happening on DC stages – and the artistic community that creates that work. In connecting new plays to an organization as AD of The Inkwell, a director and an advocate of new plays, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that I understand a theatre’s body of work – and not just from what I know by reading their website about that work. A knowledge of a producer’s passions – not to mention the work of our amazing community’s designers, actors and technical staff – can only help our local pool of writers write for and with this community of specific artists with specific passions and skills. Personally, I find that when I can talk to those artists about that piece, I get lots of ideas about the playwrights’ work that I know that they might also love. I don’t get to see as much as I’d like to, of course, but regardless:Â I can honestly say that the productions I do get to see in any given year spark my imagination and give me a reason to keep working – which every artist needs.
So instead of a boycott, I’d like to suggest that we put together a series of playwright dates with our local companies: ie, the week after opening, on a Tuesday or a Wednesday (before the review hits, generally a low time in most company’s sales), a group of DC-area playwrights attend a production – preferably of the newest plays in a company’s season. After the performance, we can put together a facilitated conversation with someone from the artistic leadership of the theatre. The conversation might focus on how this particular play exemplifies that particular theatre’s artistry and passion, how that play made it through the selection process, and also cover the theatre’s collaboration (if any) with the writer. By focusing on the newest plays on DC’s stages, we’d have a lot to talk about, that’s for sure.Â
I personally would be happy to put together events and facilitate conversations at Round House during Jason Platt’s CROWN OF SHADOWS (a play that Inkwell is proud to have brought to RHT), Adventure Theatre’s THE SNOWY DAY (an adaptation by the local duo David Emerson Toney and Darius Smith, which I am directing), anything at Forum (though I am going to recommend LANGUAGE ARCHIVE or CHURCH, both new plays)… and anywhere else, actually, if folks were interested in such a thing.Â
Just a thought…
Hey there!
To be clear up front, I was really only mentioning a boycott tongue-in-cheek; I was really just trying to solicit suggestions, because there is a problem and it needs to be addressed. A boycott, though, would hurt everyone and help no one; it’s not a serious idea. So let’s take that immediately off the table…
…and turn instead to your intriguing notion, which I’m so glad you shared. What I love about it is how it’s focused on creating dialogue between theaters/ADs and playwrights. This is the very thing we have been missing, nationwide, and the thing I’ve been hoping we can find ways to restore. It’s what’s at the heart, in some ways, of Outrageous Fortune, too. So, great.
My only concern, really, is that this be something ADs are actually interested in as well. I can’t bear the thought of bringing a bunch of playwrights to a conversation that an AD would consider a burden.
I’d also like to know that the AD in question genuinely wants to get to know DC-area playwrights: that his/her impulse to talk about the things you’ve suggested would be inspired by a desire to help us all understand the theater better *in order to work with it* — without making any promises, of course, but from a place of real interest, not simply in theory. Does that make sense? What I’d want is a genuine two-way conversation. I think that’s what you’re suggesting, too, but I wanted to be clear.
If you believe something like that is possible with Round House or Adventure or Forum, I will personally help you organize the event and rally as many playwrights to attend as possible. It could really be a terrific and important conversation.
Thanks for sharing this idea. It’s the first positive suggestion I’ve heard in a long while.