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A gathering of prominent dramatists and drama critics addressed the future of theater in an American Theatre Critics Association panel Friday, Nov. 3 in New York City. The need for diversity and inclusion across the board was a hot and insightful topic.
“We need to advocate for diversity and particularly more plays by women,” said Dramatists Guild President Doug Wright, a Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner for “I Am My Own Wife.”
“We need to see more plays from new and different perspectives as well as seeing them written with new and different perspectives. This is urgent if the theater is ever going to reach beyond its status as a kind of rarified museum for those who can afford the hefty ticket prices and enter the popular culture again in a meaningful way. More diverse voices in the critical community would be extravagantly welcomed by most playwrights.”
“I think the Internet has brought in more diverse voices,” added Janice C. Simpson, director of the Arts and Culture Reporting program at CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism. “But every theater piece is not for everyone.”
“I write about truths, particularly in the African-American community because African-Americans don’t feel theater is for them,” said off-Broad- way composer/playwright Kirsten Childs, a 2003 Dayton Playhouse FutureFest adjudicator. “I write about truths the general audience mayor may not reach because they don’t quite understand the form I’m telling the story. But there are things going on in the African-American community and I honestly want to reach out to them more. I also would love my work to be done not just in New York but all across the country. There are people I would love for it to reach. People who want to see theater about themselves.”
“I think there is a difference between art that does something good in the world and good art,” said Sara Holdren, theater critic for New York Magazine. “I wish those two things would always overlap. It would be really great if they did.”
“I really like your statement about good art but who determines what is good art?” Childs asked. “Who are those people?”
“Whatever our differences we have a symbiotic relationship,” Wright reminded. “We need to write plays you can see and you need to let the world know about them. We rely on each other.”
Additional highlights of the ATCA Conference included:
■ A tour of the Shubert Archives, a treasure trove from one of the most legendary families/organizations in the history of American theater. The Shuberts currently own 17 Broadway theaters and recently helped renovate the Hotel Edison. Among the gems were Mae West’s costume renderings, a rare Vincente Minnelli set illustration, and numerous programs dating back to “Ben Hur” in 1900.
■ A panel featuring veterans of Stephen Sondheim musicals included Cincinnati native Pamela Myers (Tony nominee as Marta in “Company ”) and Tony winner Len Cariou (“Sweeney Todd”). “We only rehearsed for one month before ‘Swee- ney’ started previews,” Cariou said. “The music was a huge challenge, but we knew when we read it that it was an incredible piece of musical theater. The role of Sweeney really fell into my being. I knew in my soul that it was a chance to make history.”
■ “The Band’s Visit,” an excellent new one-act musical by Tony nominee David Yazbek (“The Full Monty,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”) based on the film of the same name concerning Egyptian musicians mistakenly arriving in a small Israeli town. A bit of romance blossoms between the bandleader and a beautiful café owner (“He’s kind of cute in his Sgt. Pepper suit”), but the deliberately sparse and introspective material overall addresses the life-changing power of connection and the importance of community in quietly captivating fashion. Could be a major Tony contender in the spring for Best Musical and Best Original Score. Plans for a national tour have also begun promising “great sound design” according to lead producer Orin Wo lf,president of NETwor ks Theatrical Presentations.
■ “Junk,” a strong and timely new play by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar (“Disgraced”) about financial corruption in the 1980s based on the life of junk bond guru Michael Milkin (renamed Robert Merkin and passionately portrayed with power-hungry intensity by Steven Pasquale). As Akhtar shrewdly juggles complex themes of Wall Street wizardry from golden parachutes to ruthlessly securing capital, he dares to question America’s position in the global marketplace (“When you stay blind you can’t change and when you can’t change you die.”). Fittingly recalling the testosterone-driven fervor of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “The Big Short,” “Junk” seems bound for the big screen in the future.