tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post953531429468494635..comments2024-01-07T06:59:04.212-05:00Comments on The Playgoer: Whither The Working Play?Playgoerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02994724588504353485noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-38908009480630573422007-05-07T17:39:00.000-04:002007-05-07T17:39:00.000-04:00One of the most exciting productions that Lookingg...One of the most exciting productions that Lookingglass did in their early days (1990, I believe) was an adaptation of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle." At one point, the meatpacking workers were hung upside down, turning them into pieces of meat. A stunning image.<BR/><BR/>I can't locate the exact quote, but I know Joan Holden, when she was doing the stage version of "Nickel and Dimed," talked about how, in the last several decades, American workers have lost more and more ground in terms of real wages, job security, benefits, etc., even as their productivity goes up. Yet if one judged the biggest problems in America based on what was onstage at the biggest theaters, they'd think it was middle-class to upper-middle-class people who are unhappy in their relationships with their parents and/or children.<BR/><BR/>But I also would hate to see plays that only posit work as something everyone automatically hates (a la "Office Space," et al). I saw Marty Pottenger's "City Water Tunnel #3" many years ago, and that was a piece that really captured the pride of working on a huge construction project, as well as the dangers. It was damn fascinating.<BR/><BR/>Kerry ReidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-7278596450552071882007-05-07T14:46:00.000-04:002007-05-07T14:46:00.000-04:00Hi Garrett! I've recently had the good fortune to ...Hi Garrett! I've recently had the good fortune to see a play of mine based entirely in a corporate office accepted into the Fringe Festival. The play is partly about religious fanaticism and partly about the increasing predominance of work in American life. I would argue that the struggle to maintain financial equilibrium takes up more space in the American psyche that religion or sex, easily. Almost everyone I know works really hard all day long and sometimes into the weekends. That defines a life more than anything else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com