I don’t plan on going to the theater just yet, especially after spending the last 2 weeks in quarantine when my partner’s 90 year old mother developed Covid while staying with us. We’re all fully vaccinated. It was a rough ride for her obviously, and us.
I’m happy to report all is well now ..she’s recovered(who knows if there will be any long lasting complications) but the tap dance of trying to remain negative while taking care of someone with Covid is shitty, regardless of your vaccination status.
Masks at all times, fans running 24/7, Lysol… monoclonal antibodies, pulse oximeters, thermometers…you get the picture.
The only thing that would get my butt in a seat at this point, wearing a mask of course, is Rosalind Russell making a return trip to earth to star in anything.
Well maybe not “Cats”.
Anyway, that’s just me. But I’m wondering who’s going to the theater ..and who’s not? Who’s putting it off?
And who’s being put off.
Because the grosses and advances for commercial theater are being kept as secret as tRump’s coup plot, there’s no way of knowing who’s paying to go…obviously the only way to keep theater alive.
But I would say, probably the majority of opening nights and previews particularly, and most performances are overwhelmingly comped. It’s raining free tickets to bolster the “We’re Back!” Narrative… for the moment there’s plenty of federal tax grants to pay for that.
That is a carton of milk scenario… there’s an expiration date stamped on that box. Producers can’t afford to bleed money for extended periods of time when that cow runs dry. I have a feeling by early next year a good many shows will fold.
That’s the tragic result of Mother Nature. It can’t be helped.
But the white noise adding to the devastation of a once in a lifetime pandemic has become louder now.
The amount of wokespersons trying to shake up theater is mind numbing. And quite perplexing to me. I think underneath it all is mostly not activism or advocacy.. but sheer self aggrandizement with a dash of hypocrisy.
Let’s dig a little deeper shall we?
Ok, on the surface alone, this kind of tribalistic stuff is probably not appealing to a general audience ..outside of rather inside theater workers perhaps or elite audience members. A small fraction of theater goers.
Most people wanna see a show or attend a theater that’s not mired in identity politics while emerging from a pandemic in my opinion, regardless of the veracity of the cause. If the long term health and recovery of commercial theater is the goal, this ain’t the way to achieve that.
This isn’t Fox News trying to sabotage those liberal elites… it’s the major critics and newspapers in the country jumping on the bandwagon. The enemy within has come to claim his own….ok that’s a lyric from a great song …”The Enemy Within” from “King David”. You’re welcome.
Just who that enemy is needs to be exposed a bit more. Who is it? The truth is that boogeyman is a transactional moving target, and entirely dependent on the loudest inclusion and diversity virtue bugler of the day.
All for a slice of the pie.
But there’s a group eating the delicious theater pie…the actorvists and wokespersons and the audience. A cacophony of demands by a table for one leaving before the check comes stiffing artistic directors and producers and theater attendees for the meal.
So, the author of “Slave Play” is tweeting.. real authentic tweets.. that he’s gonna pull his play if more female playwrights aren’t included in the season where his play was to premiere in LA.
The play was nominated for 12 Tonys and won none.
Hmmm…
Tweets.
Anyway, what struck me from this article, or endorsement actually, was this:
“Michael Ritchie, CTG’s outgoing artistic director of whom I’ve been highly critical in the past, seemed to be listening to the We See You, White American Theatermovement.”
LA Times
If Ritchie was listening, he may have heard this…
So, it appears that a hostage sitch that advocated for inclusiveness of women would be at odds with this statement… at least women who happen to be white.
Which is it? It can’t be both.
Here’s another:
Diversity Protests in Philly outside of Walnut Street Theater where some brave, weary theater souls were attending “Beehive”.
Philadelphia Inquirer
In a statement, the Walnut Street Theatre said that in the past three seasons, “our performers have been 27% persons of color and 73% white.”
Which doesn’t square with this:
“The protests are part of a broader movement to diversify Philadelphia’s theater community. “No more all white seasons,” a group of theater community members wrote in an open letter to the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2019.”
Philadelphia Inquirer
The ease in saying that when it’s not true… “no more all white seasons”.. you know, the quiet part out loud… is the heart of bias.
Demanding anything, anything based on exclusion is just not effective. It’s not how to achieve diversity. That’s not only immoral, but inherently illegal. It is small minded. And based in contempt….
Enjoy the show though! Don’t forget to wear a mask, eat in designated areas and don’t use the bathroom! And please buy a T-shirt!
A similar controversy happened a couple of years ago when the casting notices for the tours of “Hamilton” went out that welcomed everyone to audition with the exception of white people… something that is not really definable or related to talent. Miranda was forced to change it ultimately.
But now, it appears he’s having some other diversity issues:
https://apple.news/Am6O2jP_CTcWGvNNUyk_Bug
He’s being sued by a trans actor who felt discriminated against.
Anyway, I don’t find most of this growing pains for a more just theater as much as grievance. It’s cloaked in a somewhat myopic view by many different demographics of marginalized groups who are all trying to get called on by the teacher in elementary school when all they need to do is open the book. And read it.
There’s so much wheel spinning, and I doubt that this is altruism or advocacy. Much of the current atmosphere has been aided and abetted by AEA and other unions.
I think the goal is simply to get some attention for the most part…some press.
It’s not good press.
There are so many “conversations” taking place in the performing arts… the one I’d like to have is missing. The big picture. At least a bigger picture.
Looking with some clarity is the only path forward.
So, let’s talk about it.
Robert DuSold 
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