..Statistics, statistics, statistics, statistics...
Lots and lots to read and think about. I have a busy weekend ahead of me, but I'm hoping to tuck in and come back with some thoughts for ya.
Update: Oops! I put the wrong link in the second "statistics." Fixed now!
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1 comment:
I appreciate your take on the example.
From my experience skipping steps - ie, a script that goes directly to an AD or associate AD - is rarer than you suppose.
I've read for at least 2 large non-profit theaters known for producing new work in NY and on the West Coast - as well as a few Broadway producers. There were programs the managers at these houses had direct influence, indirect influence and no influence over.
What I saw was that ADs listened to what Lit Depts had to say, but rarely took direct action based on a reco from a lit manager - NOT that it doesn't happen. One way it did occur was if, say a lit manager picked a play for a reading series they had direct responsibility for, often the AD would come. If they, too, liked the play or were interested in the voice, further action may have been made.
But I have never personally seen a script get passed directly to an AD from a lit manager without the script having been read by at least two people - one of whom had to be a trusted reader and the other who was usually the lit manager.
And it really didn't matter whether the script was written by an MFA writer or not. If they liked it, they pushed it and tried to help the writer as much as possible.
ADs–who'd worked in theatre depts for years or run other theatres and who made it their business to see shows elsewhere–often had their own list of people they'd been waiting for years to produce.... and so, those people usually come first, whoever they may be.
While there are many things stacked against the new writer, it's easy to think that theatres are not on their side because we don't see what the theatre's are doing.
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