tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post113399063146093812..comments2024-01-07T06:59:04.212-05:00Comments on The Playgoer: Same Old New PlaywrightsPlaygoerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02994724588504353485noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1134448681886113822005-12-12T23:38:00.000-05:002005-12-12T23:38:00.000-05:00I, too, think it's "good [when] producers/theatre ...I, too, think it's "good [when] producers/theatre companies feel committed enough to a writer to produce his or her work even when it is not at their best."<BR/>But I don't think that's what's going on here. The fact is, Greenberg plays are a <I>safe</I> choice for the Roundabout--for all the reasons Isherwood lays out. And there's little in the Roundabout's recent history to indicate that the organization is especially interested in nuturing a new generation of playwrights.<BR/>So this seems likely to be more about branding and marketing than anything else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1134341513551119532005-12-11T17:51:00.000-05:002005-12-11T17:51:00.000-05:00Somewhere past the middle of Playgoer's post, I wa...Somewhere past the middle of Playgoer's post, I was trying to formulate in my mind how to say "you've taken both sides on the issue and both seem right" without sounding lame. You came up with it yourself: "this should not be 'either/or.'"<BR/><BR/>I'm out of my league saying much more; I don't know as much as I should about how the big New York institutions run. But the workshop process mentioned in Freeman's comment gives me an idea: an established playwright's new work may deserve a production for the sake of his/her past work, but it doesn't necessarily deserve a big production first. Don't any of the big nonprofit theaters have access to smaller stages? "The new Greenberg" could have been launched in some smaller house, at a lesser cost, and with less sense of disappointment if it proves to have warts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1134052272617651082005-12-08T09:31:00.000-05:002005-12-08T09:31:00.000-05:00Many companies use the workshop model for younger ...Many companies use the workshop model for younger and untested writers anyhow. They continue to "develop" and "showcase" younger writers and their works, without putting real money and power, for the most part, behind a production. <BR/><BR/>Essentially, the problem is economic, as it has always been. We simply are curious to see what Durang is up to, because it is Durang. His play could be a mess (as you indicate) but it is still a new work by an American writer whose work has been vastly influential. His failures are worthy of note, but they are also deemed worthy of production dollars. <BR/><BR/>That being said, Mr. Marmalade does sort of kick all this to the curb, doesn't it?Freemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01183078884824734105noreply@blogger.com