NWC #27- "BAD
THEATER" Nov 28th at 8am
I hate bad theater.
Like... I hate it.
CHALLENGE- write bad
theater. REALLY write it. See if you can get the arc of the needle on the
bad-o-meter to turn so bad... so far to the left that it bends and bends and
bends some more until it starts to reach ALL THE WAY AROUND and touch
greatness.
DO NOT TRY TO WRITE
GREATNESS
that isn't how this works.
Channel the dark side of
the Force
Give yourself permission
two days before end end of this challenge to write badly- BUT NOT LAZILY
EPIC BAD
worse than worse
Do what those assholes who
ruin theater for the rest of us 'cause their audiences come to see their first
show in a decade and resolve to make it the last of their lives... only do what
they do MORE
Yeah?
Back your ass so far into
badness that something peaks out on the other side
What is bad? up to you.
the odds someone reads this are next to nil
hell even you will likely
never revisit this moment again so why are you being so gutless?
Maybe you find a voice for
a character you didn't know you had inside you?
Everyone needs a good
antagonist. Give them their due!
(Not sure I can top the
horrible aborted fetus play in my head right now. I reached for a recent example of bad
theater, or at least a bad theater idea, and ended up going down a well-intentioned
white person rabbit hole, which I guess is either bad or just precious...)
BAD THEATER INTERRUPTUS
1
OK,
so our first ensemble movement piece will be set to "Ooo, Child" by
Nina Simone.
2
No.
1
What
do you mean, no?
2
Are
you black?
1
I
think you mean African American.
2
Whatever. Are you?
1
Clearly,
no.
2
Am
I? Is anyone in this blindingly lily
white theater company even remotely a person of color?
1
I'm
not sure why that's at all germane to what we're doing here.
2
Nina
Simone was a proud, dark-skinned African American, or black, woman who was also
deeply involved in the civil rights struggles of her time - and sadly,
continually, our time.
1
So
white people can't use her music?
2
Not
to make up for a lack of diversity in your acting company, no.
1
That's
not what we're doing.
2
That's
not what you're consciously, deliberately doing, no. But if you're not just getting a diversity
contact high off of all the things associated with the sound of Nina Simone - ?
1
And
we're not.
2
Why
not just set it to "Shiny Happy People" by R.E.M.
1
So
I guess the later sequence we were going to set to Sam Cooke's "A Change
Is Gonna Come" doesn't fly with you either.
2
Nope.
1
Billie
Holliday's "Strange Fruit"
2
You're
not serious.
1
I
thought we were.
2
Not
unless you're depicting a lynching on stage in which white people aren't the
heroes or the victims.
1
Art
should be colorblind.
2
And
when society is, then I agree with you.
However,
that's not where we are at the moment.
1
Pharrell's
"Happy"?
2
If
you must.
1
Sam
Cooke's "Wonderful World"?
2
(singing, just to be sure)
"Don't
know much about history - ?"
1
That's
the one.
2
Sure.
1
So
we can't address Black Lives Matter?
2
Not
unless you actually start working with some black artists and let them lead the
project, no.
1
But
that's limiting.
2
Only
if you circle of artistic collaborators is limited.
1
I
have black friends.
2
OK. Good for you.
1
I'm
not prejudiced. I'm an ally.
2
You
don't get to choose that label for yourself.
Do the work. Someone will tell
you when you're an ally. Maybe. Eventually.
1
But
this is an important issue.
2
So
make space for people who are directly affected by it to speak to that issue.
1
But
I feel that my artistic empathy -
2
When
a cop pulls you over, do you fear for your life?
1
No.
2
Then
you can't speak to this issue.
1
That's
limiting my artistic expression.
2
In
so many other ways you have access and absolutely no limitations. Clear some of those roadblocks for artists of
color. And step aside.
1
Hold
the door.
2
Essentially? Yeah.
1
I'm
offended by that.
2
It's
not about you.
1
It's
not about you either.
2
I'm
not saying it is.
1
But
you're standing in the way.
2
No,
I'm standing in *your* way. *The* way
still has plenty of room.
1
I
can just go ahead and do it anyway,
2
Yes
you can. I'm just trying to save you
from your own worst, clueless istincts.
1
It's
not like I'm planning to use James Brown's "Say It Loud, I'm Black And I'm
Proud."
2
Yeah,
points for that. Not all things are that
easy to spot.
1
Like
Nina Simone.
2
Like
Nina Simone.
1
But
I like Nina Simone.
2
As
do I. She is not, however, the
appropriate soundtrack to my life onstage.
1
So?
2
So
if you want Nina Simone to mean something, give her an appropriate context.
1
Which
would necessitate artists of color.
2
Exactly.
1
So
white people can only do white stories?
2
That's
simplistic, but closer.
1
It's
not like I'm trying to stage an all-white version of "A Raisin In The
Sun."
2
Well,
we already have "Death of a Salesman" for that, so I don't know why
you would need to.
1
I'm
not staging Othello with an actor doing black face.
2
OK,
points for that. Never do black
face. Or red face. Or yellow face. Or brown face. Basically no face that isn't your own face.
1
So
Columbus Day or Thanksgiving?
2
Problematic
at best.
1
American
History in general?
2
Deeply
troubled. But if you can accept that white
people aren't always the victims or the heroes or even central to the story of
some types of progress, then -
1
Things
might start to balance out?
2
As
long as you do your homework and find the right collaborators.
1
Because
progress often happened in spite of white people, not because of them.
2
There
are some white heroes.
1
But
they exist alongside, not instead of, heroes of color.
2
Right.
1
So
what do we do about the show? This show,
right now? Where we just have white
people?
2
There
are still struggles.
1
Just
don't appropriate someone else's.
2
Or
pretend that yours are the most pressing or insurmountable. Acknowledge that white privilege and
institutional racism help you get halfway to your solutions. Don't be ungrateful. But don't just take advantage and then
pretend you did it all on your own.
1
And
work to dismantle corrupt systems.
2
There
ya go.
1
We'll
need to rethink.
2
Rethinking
is good.
1
It's
kind of exhausting.
2
Well,
we've had it easy for a LONG time.
1
Progress
doesn't come without hard work.
2
And
a willingness to sacrifice a little of your own comfort.
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