But the goal one should hope for is to inspire us here to do new things--not necessarily the same thing. The Moscow Art Theatre came to New York in 1924 for a similarly long "sit down" residency, performing many plays in rep. When some young eager New York theatre rebels saw it, their eyes were opened by a kind of acting they had never seen before so they went and made a new company--The Group Theatre--that would learn from that. But while inspired by Stanislavsky's example, they did no Russian plays nor anything written before 1930, and all by American playwrights. And it changed the American theatre forever.Very good stuff. You know what to do. RTWT.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Things I Really Enjoyed Reading
A great post from Garrett at The Playgoer on the whole RSC residency thing that's a-coming. He makes a point that I really agree with:
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Absolutely. Some of us would love to see the Armory used for large-scale "total theatre" events, the likes of which only get programmed at BAM or Montclair (or sometimes St. Anne's). There's lots of fantastic, home-grown material being made that would tear that place up. Which is what makes Isherwood's call for more "classical" theatre so sigh-inducing.
Interesting example - the Moscow Art. I'd add to that - it was Ireland's Abbey Theatre coming to the US that inspired John Reed, Eugene O'Neil, Ida Raugh, Edna Millay, etc., started the Provincetown Playhouse and the Washington Square Players, and the oldest community theater in America (is it Cleveland or Chicago? - I'm blanking), which Is the birth of Off Broadway. Here's hoping something good comes of this new arrival.
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