Quote of the Day II

Why couldn't a request go out to the country's leading playwrights for original plays -- one act in length or in some cases even longer -- and have them debut on a regular schedule at the White House? The list could start from the ranks of Pulitzer Prize winners: Tony Kushner, Edward Albee, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lynn Nottage, Donald Margulies, Paula Vogel, Doug Wright, David Lindsay-Abaire, Nilo Cruz. They could be linked over time by themes, or dwell on any American topic that the writers felt compelled to address. (The office of Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and himself an influential Broadway producer, would be a natural coordinator.)

-Peter Marks, Washington Post, proposing the old  "command performance" as a model for new play commissions. 

Hey, was good enough for Shakespeare and his "King's Men."

With funding drying up, some good old fashioned monarchical patronage may be the ticket!