The Playgoer: Nicola speaks

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Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Nicola speaks

If I had only checked over at Superfluities earlier (or bothered to visit nytw.org) I would have seen James Nicola has now posted a statement. Nothing new, though.

Here's the nut of the new rationale:

We always try to minimize the distractions around the production so our constituency can hear the artist's voice. This takes a great deal of planning and listening to accomplish. In the less than two months we had to mount the proposed production of the Royal Court’s MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE, we found that there was a strong possibility that a number of factions, on all sides of a political conflict, could use the production as a platform for their own agendas. We were not confident that we had the time to create an environment where the art could be heard independent of the political issues associated with it.
People debate over a play??? Sacre bleu! It just shows what a political bubble successful theatres live in, even if small and hip. But hardly a surprise to anyone who's witnessed the arc of NYTW's move toward more and more easily ready-for-consumption theatre over the last decade. (Hell, I was ready to picket The Beard of Avon!)

So let's see how serious they are about taking more time to "prepare us" for the shock of possibly sympathizing with Palestinians for 90 minutes.

BTW: It's making the political blogosphere, too. Andrew Sullivan weighs in here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This statement is embarrassing. The New York theatre is pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Exactly how much "planning and listening" is necessary to make it possible for an audience to be able to "hear the artist's voice"? Either Nicola is using code words or he's spouting diversionary nonsense.

Write a program note. Throw up a couple readings of plays by Israeli playwrights with other views of the conflict. Whatever.

But to cancel the play because you can't "create an environment where the art could be heard independent of the political issues associated with it"? It's just dumb.

It also seems disingenuous. Did Nicola really want "Patriot Act" to be heard independent of the political issues associated with it? How about "Homebody/Kabul"? If he did...well, let's just say he's got a disturbingly narrow view of theatre's role in society.