![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/door-and-cloud-rene-magritte.jpeg\" "\\"door")
<\/a><\/p>\nSo often in the American theatre, especially in the last four years, all we hear about, all we feel<\/em>, is every door is closing. Foundation assets shrinking, donor pocketbooks tightening, earned income competition growing from angles we can\u2019t \u00a0control or sometimes even understand, audiences aging.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to believe that we are the innocent victims of this \u201cturning away,\u201d perpetrated by the unholy alliance of the economy and the internet, but in truth we are quite complicit.\u00a0 Again and again in the time that I\u2019ve personally worked professionally in our field, I\u2019ve watched us fail to make a case for ourselves, most notably in the wake of 9\/11, when we contributed very little to the national conversation that day provoked. We have failed, as an industry and an ideology, to prove our value to the average American.\u00a0\u00a0 Whether we like it or not, we are accountable not only for the quality of our art; we are responsible for the way we are perceived.\u00a0 <\/em>And in that arena, we have chosen not to matter to the future of our nation \u2013 choosing instead to recycle, recycle, rebrand, to push ourselves in a commercial direction without giving our people the benefits of said commercialism.\u00a0 If we\u2019re frustrated by the starving-artist stereotype and the patronizing smiles it provokes from our patrons as they jokingly ask \u201cwhat should I do? \u2013 my niece is thinking of becoming an actor!,\u201d then we should stop perpetuating it.\u00a0 Producers should start paying living wages, and artists should demand no less, and their unions should enforce both.\u00a0 I personally believe that artists should flatly refuse to work without sufficient compensation, be it in money or in some other tangible form.\u00a0 If you choose to play the fool, you can\u2019t be mad when people laugh at you.<\/p>\n How have we come to think that somehow we can maintain relevance by \u201ctaking a fresh new look\u201d at Rodgers and Hammerstein?\u00a0 Why have we passively sat on the sidelines watching the public political forums and the Town Halls disappear, letting the public civic debate degenerate into platitudes and black-and-white-thinking and name-calling?\u00a0 Sure, we didn\u2019t close them, but we also didn\u2019t save them, by investing our own resources and moving them to our stages as they disappeared elsewhere.<\/p>\n We lost our path somewhere along the way and forgot that this is the RESPONSIBILITY that was vested in us by our civil society: that theatre artists and non-commercial producers are supposed to be the ones who FORCE us all to come together and be rigorous and ask questions of our government and challenge ourselves.\u00a0 The study of aesthetic beauty was vested in the poets and the painters, not in us \u2013 no one ever tasked theatre-makers to make \u201cgreat and enduring and beautiful Art <\/strong>with a capital A.\u201d\u00a0 How could we, actually? \u2013 it\u2019d be a fool\u2019s errand.\u00a0 Our art lives beyond it\u2019s moment of realization on neither canvas nor parchment \u2013 it\u2019s ephemeral, and can\u2019t endure except in the mind and the heart of the listener as their reaction to THIS question on THIS night.\u00a0 The social pact that gave us value was that we would attack all of the old stories that everyone knew, and mine them for their true meanings and morals, and engage as diverse a community as possible in a debate about what these old stories tell us about our now.\u00a0 We violate our end of this pact on a nightly basis all across the country, and then wonder why the people we\u2019ve betrayed are not supporting us?<\/p>\n This problem is greatly exacerbated by the fact that as a nation, we have not really defined ourselves and what we stand for in at least 40-60 years – outside of the hollow truisms about freedom<\/em>, opportunity<\/em>, and the courage<\/em> of the first responders that we hear every day in this ramp-up to Election Day.\u00a0 Would we could<\/strong> better delineate each of those \u2013 would we were<\/strong> a nation dedicated to justice, generosity, and courage.\u00a0 We\u2019re not \u2013 we mostly live in enclaves of fear and self-protection, if not flat greed, abusing the system as best we can to stay one tiny half-step ahead of our fellow citizens. A big part of OUR job as theatre-makers is supposed to be to bash in the gates of those enclaves.\u00a0 But we can\u2019t.\u00a0 Partly because we\u2019re not brave enough, but partly because when we do demonstrate courage and rigor we are often ignored – because we never made a case for our importance.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t need a national THEATRE in this country, we need a NATIONAL theatre.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need a new big building or institutional structure as the arbiter of aesthetic taste, we need a way of working that is values-based, community-engaging, and catalyzes or contributes to a rich national conversation about what it means in 2012 to self-identify as \u201cAmerican.\u201d<\/p>\n And we can do it.\u00a0 But until we\u2019re bringing issues to our stages that actually matter to the average citizen \u2013 like the moral complexities of abortion, or reducing gun violence, or managing debt, or empowering social justice on the fronts of race, gender, and sexuality \u2013 while simultaneously tackling in our administrative offices the real-life challenges audiences face to participation (like child care or transportation), and re-focusing price points, and putting our resources into building diversity among our artists and audience ACTIVELY, in our schools and less-enfranchised communities EVERY DAY, we\u2019re not going about raising the value of artists or the arts in our society.\u00a0 We not only have to talk the talk, we have to walk the walk.<\/p>\n As far as the talk goes, that\u2019s our open door.\u00a0 We are in the midst of Presidential election season.\u00a0 And everyone is engaged in it.\u00a0 So take a look at the 4-6 weeks leading up to and including the Presidential election – call it from October 1through November 11.\u00a0 Block it off in your calendar.\u00a0 And whatever it is you do artistically during that period, make it something that contributes to a constructive national conversation.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not advocating stumping for a candidate.\u00a0 And I\u2019m aware that this is a seemingly random time frame \u2013 the national conversation, after all, does not ACTUALLY center on the Presidential election.\u00a0 But as arbitrary a civic event as it may be, it\u2019s the one that EVERYONE in this country actually pays attention to.\u00a0 If you are not identifying yourself with what is perceived to matter most in this time frame, you will not be asserting your relevance.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re an actor, or a freelance director or designer, only seek or accept work in a project where you are given the chance to contribute something to the dialogue, to use your skills to impact people\u2019s thinking and interaction in the civic forum.\u00a0 Make art you know will have an impact, or connect a community you care about to the art you\u2019re making in an impactful way.\u00a0 If you\u2019re a writer, use that time to grapple with a complex and challenging question about our national values, and ideally get it read.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a producer, program only<\/strong> work that actively and transparently engages audiences in current civic issues, or important questions about what we stand for as a nation, and find ways to engage your audience in the dialogue.\u00a0 And, for God\u2019s sake, have an education program that connects your programs to the public schools in your community via civic dialogue.<\/p>\n For instance, we at Epic are producing two plays in repertory this Fall, HOLD THESE TRUTHS by Jeanne Sakata and DISPATCHES FROM (A)MENDED AMERICA by Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. and Brandt Adams. \u00a0Both plays are about race in the United States, and specifically how racial self-identification and one\u2019s sense of justice interact, during times of great crisis (such as the Japanese internment during WWII) or great change (the 2008 election of Barack Obama).\u00a0 Both directly tackle civic issues that matter to the average American; both are followed by great talkbacks (like when former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal will speak following a performance of HOLD THESE TRUTHS); each will reach hundreds of college students in special group events; and, both will be bracketed by in-school residencies where the artists involved will work with almost 1000 public HS students before and after they see the plays.<\/p>\n For those weeks leading up to the election, take a stand for, and stake claim for, your critical role as a participant in the national conversation.\u00a0 Contribute, through art, to the dialogue surrounding an event that the average American cares about and engages in, and I think you\u2019ll be surprised how much your value will be raised in the eyes of your community.<\/p>\n Of course, the gut check moment comes with walking the walk.\u00a0 If you\u2019re an artist, it\u2019s simple, but so so difficult.\u00a0 You can\u2019t take jobs that don\u2019t value you.\u00a0 You just can\u2019t.\u00a0 Insist that you matter, and insist in seeing it reflected in where<\/strong> you do your art, and\/or who<\/strong> you reach, and\/or how you\u2019re paid<\/strong> for it.\u00a0 You have to define, announce, and stand by your intrinsic value.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re an artistic leader, do three things right away.<\/p>\n Re-define \u201cartist value\u201d at your organization <\/em>in three easy steps.\u00a0 Trust me, if you\u2019re the right leader, every constituent in your organization, from staff to Board to audiences to donors, will be inspired and re-invigorated and the dedication of resources will be repaid sevenfold.\u00a0 And when you link this new stance on artist value to content that is both artistically satisfying and <\/em>impactful in the civic forum, you will be seen for what you undoubtedly are \u2013 someone who can elucidate underlying complexities, who can catalyze rich dialogue, who can foster empathy, who can help people find a voice.\u00a0 That is, someone who is critically important to the future of our nation.<\/p>\n Walk through that door.\u00a0 It could well close again in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A door is standing open for us. So often in the American theatre, especially in the last four years, all we hear about, all we feel, is every door is closing. Foundation assets shrinking, donor pocketbooks tightening, earned income competition growing from angles we can\u2019t \u00a0control or sometimes even understand, audiences aging. It\u2019s easy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-a-strategic-approach-to-raising-artist-value","7":"category-producorial-responsibilities","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n