Conservatism in Question
What is conservatism's place in the theatre? How do we relate to it? How do we deal with it? And if conservatism exists in the audience, must we talk to them?
These questions and more are occupying a lot blogular real estate this week, mainly as a result of one entry on the Impending Theatrical Blogging Event blog (which we've addressed with the help of the comments here).
Laura Axelrod got pulled in by the geographically political undertow of the ongoing debate at the ITBE and responded on her Gasp! blog:
I’m not sure what Red State Theater is, exactly. Personally, I’d like to have the biggest audience possible for my work, without compromising my vision. Shouting that Democrats or Republicans suck is going to defeat my purpose. Unless, that is my purpose. KnowwhatImean?
In the comments, she and Nick from Rat Sass discuss the possibility that conservatives are filling the houses at Broadway shows, which seems extraordinarily likely, especially in the case of the so-called jukebox musicals which are so "conservative" in content that they don't even bother with new music, much less new thought.
You can follow the thread from there to Adam Szymkowicz, who's trying to figure out why there's not more "conservative" theatre.
Thoughts?
You can follow the thread from there to Adam Szymkowicz, who's trying to figure out why there's not more "conservative" theatre.
In some ways conservative theatre is an oxymoron ... which is not to say it doesn't exist, just that the word conservative doesn't go with the idea of theatre.Jump from there to Frank's Wild Lunch, where Kyle dissects other ways that conservatism manifests itself in theatre.
... theater artists pander to audiences in all kinds of ways, either by cloaking their racy subversive ideas in more palatable forms, or by omitting them for fear they won't be accepted.A nice follow-up to the whole thing, especially if you've been following the ongoing conflict between Scott Walters of Theatre Ideas and, well, a lot of other people (especially Joshua James down below), is Scott's posting of an email exchange with Isaac of Parabasis, who was involved at the ITBE. Here's an excerpt.
I think challenge is absolutely necessary for a community to grow. Theatre shouldn't exist simply to deepen social bonds by reinforcing already-agreed-upon ideas. Although such deepening DOES serve an important purpose, and is part of what a theatre should do.
Thoughts?
Comments (2)
So if your post is, what's IDEA'S place in theatre, I'd say it's vitally important, right?
Because, along with emotion and experience, IDEAS are a prime ingredient to great theatre.
If you ask, what is the VALUE of conservatisim as an IDEA . . . then you're going to get different answers dependent upon who you're asking.
My postion was, conservatism isn't the only idea, nor is it one that has value, as far as I'm concerned, though I'd never tell anyone they shouldn't explore it for themselves.
That's the thing about ideas . . . you put them up for examination and they either fly or they don't, sometimes both at once . . .
So I'd say conservatism has a place as an idea to be examined . . .
Now, as a rule or guideline to be followed, conservatisim isn't something I'd recommend . . . why censor ourselves to only one idea . . .
I'm just musing on your question, Matthew, throwing things out there.
Conservative is a tricky word these days. Think about its etymological relationship to the word "conservation".