Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Yo, Where The Theatre At?

You might be asking yourself that same question. This is supposed to be a theatre blog, so what's all this about commercials and Die Hard and race? Where's the inside dish and the big think stuff about the state of theatre today? Where's the beef (to coin a phrase)? A couple of things:

- For me, all of that is part of the theatre I make and the theatre I want to see. Images of masculinity, questions of identity, race, sexuality, what's going on in the zeitgeist of the culture, that's all part of making art. I ain't picky about what goes in the hopper. And right now, I'm starting to feel it all cooking. Which leads to...

- I've been focused on making plays a bit more than I have been for the last few months. I have a deadline coming up and a big rewrite to do, plus I'm trying to get some new plays up in the air, see what floats and what falls. AND I'm still thinking about what my version of self-producing will look like. That's a whole lot of goddamn thinking, y'all. Which also means...

- There's less time for hand-wringing, belly-button-gaving and lint-gathering. After the epic January of Outrageous Fortune and all the concomitant posting, commenting and such, well...I don't think there's really too much else to say right now. We all know the problems. They're not just theatre's problems (as evidenced by this which popped up in my inbox yesterday). Some folks have one set of ideas about what to do, some others have another, some other folks are happy to sit on the sidelines and tell everybody what they're doing wrong. Right now, I'm a bit more focused on doing, which then means...

- I love my down time, even more. And for me, down time means TV, semi-trashy crime novels and potboilers, and catching the occasional show. Since I'm all unveiled and shit, I can't really post about things I've seen for the standard blah blah blah reasons. Or rather, I'd rather not, since, first and foremost, I'm not a critic (not a theatre critic, anyway). I'm a writer and I don't confuse the two. So, that means, for y'all...

- Expect some posts about TV shows I like, books I'm reading or looking forward to read, what I think about some other stuff, too. I'll try to bring things back around to theatre as much as I can. But, really, for me, it's all connected, anyway.

Oh, and I'll have a plug or two coming your way. Just so we're all clear: I do things in the world and I'd like it if you came out and saw them. Everybody cool with that?

12 comments:

Scott Walters said...

You get all swoony awfully easy, 99. Blogging is a long-distance run, not a sprint.

99 said...

Thanks for the concern, Prof, but I don't know if I'm swooning this time around. Not going silent. Just not talking theatre too much right now.

Scott Walters said...

Well WTF? ;-)

99 said...

How many ways can I say "more new plays in more places, please?" I'm pretty blue in the face already.

Scott Walters said...

Say something else! Are you a one-trick cowboy?

99 said...

No, which is why I'm posting work, talking about books and TV shows, dipping my toe into politics. But when it comes to theatre...I don't know, sometimes everything else seems like re-arranging furniture on the Titanic. I'm thinking that it's time for less talking and more doing. And I don't know how much I want to talk about what I'm doing.

Scott Walters said...

Usually I think there is too much doing and too little talking, not mention too little thinking. Just one damn thing after another with no sense of purpose, no focus, no sense of contribution.

99 said...

I honestly find it the other way around: when I'm serious about the blogging, finding articles to respond to, researching points and ideas, etc., etc., I don't do enough actual doing, making art, growing as an artist. That is my first priority. The blogging gets to take a backseat sometimes.

And thinking...Jesus. I do enough of that.

Scott Walters said...

Thinking isn't thinking unless you share your thoughts. Without sharing, it is just musing.

99 said...

Define "share." And, honestly, not all I'm thinking about have anything to do with theatre. But really, beyond "more new plays in more places," and ways of making that happen, most of which I've shared, batted around, defended and amended already, again: no need to be blue in the face all the time. Gotta take a deep breath from time to time.

joshcon80 said...

Write about whatever you want to write about. It's your blog.

I just wrote about a hobo throwing a hot dog at me.

99 said...

Why don't hobos ever throw hot dogs at me? Aren't I pretty?