My World is My Stage

This post is a continuation of a post I wrote on Arena’s New Play Blog.

I’ve really invested a lot of mental space (and there wasn’t really much there to start with) into thinking about festivals. In the #newplay world, it seems to be an integral part of what we do. Everyone is trying to get their plays to these festivals, administrators flock to them like they are some kind of Mecca, and patrons/board members/etc. look to them to get a picture of what new plays are out there. For all intents and purposes, new play festivals must be a big deal. But are they really?

In an interview by the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Molly Smith Metzler revealed that Humana is a big deal.

“…I don’t want to seem immodest, but [Humana] is as big a deal as it gets. Everyone wants to be in the Humana Festival and everyone wants to go to the Humana Festival, and, honestly, everyone does go to the Humana Festival…everyone pays attention to Humana and it feels like a New York festival because of how much everyone here in New York cares about it.

So if the artists involved in the festival think it’s a big deal, does that make it a big deal?

Or is it how many productions these plays get from these festivals, is that what makes them a big deal? Most of the literature these festivals put out around their festivals talk about how many productions get done out of these festivals. I would argue with that point. If you take the amount of people who actually attend these festivals and compare that to the number of productions the plays they see actually get, I think the numbers would be fairly laughable. Let’s be honest, plays get produced because of personal relationships the “gatekeepers” (stay on the look-out for a future convening at Arena Stage about this topic) and decision-makers (assuming they aren’t the same person) have with the generative artists. Point-blank period. 

Humana’s stated goal is “to introduce these plays to the world and have them produced in the diverse landscape of the American theatre.” Other festivals intended missions are to expose the field to the best new plays being written in the field. If that’s the case, then what is the purpose of having literary offices? What’s the point of doing scouting? Are festivals only for theaters who don’t have functioning (take that to mean the an absence of one or one that doesn’t do much) literary offices? I don’t mean to sound crass but if we are relying on a few people to pick the best places of the year for the field, we may be operating WAY below our capacities.

Whatever the mission of festivals are, I think we can push their functions. I am a big fan of talking (like you couldn’t tell) and I would LOVE to see more conversations around topics in the #newplay field at all of the festivals. I’d also like to see more conversations about mentorship. I applaud ATL and Humana for having a conversation about the field and mentorship for women, but as I stated on Twitter, a lot of people were left out of the conversation and more questions need to be asked and answered. I think we need to put just as much thought into the ancillary activities at these festivals as we do (supposedly) to the play selection. Doing more of this will increase the importance of these festivals. It would also help create new advocates for new work. We’d educate a larger group of people about the challenges and the success of the field. We’d provide more platforms for field-wide inquiry and discussion. We’d allow more spaces for the young generation to meet and learn from the biggest names in the field. There may be more instances for the young people in the field to have their voices heard (I’d be an advocate for that!). 

Again, I digress. I can talk about these things forever. Ultimately, I enjoy attending all of the #newplay festivals that I’ve been able to attend. I feel truly blessed to attend these festivals where new plays are being presented. Like everything, I think there is room for improvement. I think most people would agree with me. The challenge I put to the field, especially to those who put these festivals together, to think harder about not only the play selection, but the overall purpose of your festivals and things you can do to make these events more profound.

*steps down from soap box*