LA STAGE WATCH is a series of articles by staff writer/blogger Don Shirley.
A recent Sunday morning. As I sit down with my oatmeal, I check out the latest theater coverage in the Arts and Books section of the Los Angeles Times. I see that a theater book gets front page coverage — that’s unusual. Then I notice that the book, and the article about it, are by Kenneth Turan, one of the two Times film critics.
Turns out that it’s a promotional article for Turan’s new book, an oral history. The topic of the book isn’t film-related. It’s about Joseph Papp’s Public Theater.
I pause mid-bite when I read the first paragraph of the article: “The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater has been the most significant not-for-profit theater group in this country since it was founded by Joe Papp more than 50 years ago. During his lifetime (he died in 1991), Papp made theater in America both accessible and essential.”
Really? Did I accidentally pick up the New York Times instead of the Los Angeles Times?
Turan misunderstands what “made theater in America both accessible and essential” during Papp’s lifetime. That task was performed not in New York, where theater was already quite “accessible and essential,” thank you very much. It happened in Los Angeles and elsewhere outside New York.
Those were the decades when professional, non-profit companies appeared throughout America. Although these companies are often labeled “regional,” which carries a whiff of condescension, they deserve most of the credit for making American theater ”accessible and essential.”
It should be obvious that this decentralization of American theater was more responsible for increased “accessibility” of the art form than the actions of any single New York-based producer. Less obvious, perhaps, is that increased accessibility brought increased opportunity for theater to become “essential.” If the theaters of your own community provide enough excitement for you to make theatergoing a habit, it becomes… “essential.” By contrast, if you’re thrilled by a show you see while you’re on vacation, but you lack the opportunity to be equally thrilled by the theaters in your home town, theatergoing remains a non-essential luxury.
The proliferation of theatrical centers in the last half of the 20th century demonstrated that theater is an inherently local art, regardless of the subject matter. Unlike film or TV or the Internet, theater exists in one particular place, on one particular day, before one particular audience. At least theoretically, your chance of experiencing theater that speaks directly to you or your community is much greater in, well, your own community. That’s why it’s important for non-New York companies not to simply ape successful programming from New York.
So is there any other company or figure who deserves Turan’s accolades? Not really. If you spent most of those Papp years in Los Angeles, maybe you thought that Center Theatre Group and Gordon Davidson created “the most significant” theater. But if you lived a few miles to the southeast, you might have felt that South Coast Repertory and the Martin Benson/David Emmes team merited those kudos. When I lived in Washington D.C. during my young adulthood, I would have said that Arena Stage was my most significant theater. I doubt that any theater critic, not to mention any film critic, sees enough theater nationwide to make a sufficiently informed judgment on which company is “the most significant” in the country.
CTG, SCR, and Arena Stage, like Papp’s company, developed artists and sent plays on to productions in other parts of the country. But their greater significance is that they brought professional standards to the intensely local experience that is theater.
I look forward to seeing if or how the Los Angeles Times covers the recently published book Stepping Ahead, Lawrence Christon’s history of South Coast Repertory. Perhaps the theater critic, not the film critic, should tackle this assignment.
Thank you for addressing the condescension of our “local” newspaper. You reminded me of why I don’t bother to read the LA Times reviews anymore. Every time I do read them, I find myself so irritated. Good creative work does not require the most famous theaters or actors. It can be found anywhere. I now look at local websites and other information sites to find wonderful acting experiences. Yes sometimes I am disappointed but the joy of finding a “gem” makes the disappointments fade in my memory. I love to see wonderful actors and wonderful material. Yes sometimes i only get one of those but I still will search for them.
Of course New York can have wonderful theater but hey I have seen just as many bad shows in NYC as anywhere else. Give your town a chance. Artists are everywhere. I hope I don’t get so elitist that I miss something great.
Thanks for your article.
Jeanne Hartman
Congratulations on the new platform, Don. Apropos of your theme here, it should be mentioned that Lawrence Christon was also a Los Angeles Times critic who covered theater. Looking forward to more blogging. – ctg
Huzzah Don! – a classy, intelligent article from a classy, intelligent gentleman and critic.
Brilliant to have Shirley writing regularly for us again! As this
first article proves, his insights are both provacative and
based on a real love of theater. The phenomenon
of the Public Theater happened here in LA too. But without a NY
Times, no one paid attention! Shirley will, lucky for us.
Bravo, not enough of our critic and artistic leaders in the greater LA community stand up for theatre in LA. We are still of the old mind set that real theatre is done in NY. And like one of the other commenters, I seen as much bad theatre in NY as I seen elsewhere. But more importantly theatre has grown tremendously in LA over the last 30 years. The pool of high caliber acting talent and writing continues to grow. Competition among actors for material and venues is as competitive as it has ever been. NY may still be the home to more mega productions on any given Sunday, but theatre in LA is diverse, powerful and relevant.
Blog on my friend… Blog on!
Don, Thank you for this article. I especially like this thought: “Unlike film or TV or the Internet, theater exists in one particular place, on one particular day, before one particular audience.” I have a question—Papp brought Shakespeare to Central Park, didn’t he? Was he one of the first to do this? Now Shakespeare is performed in Land Park in Sacramento in the summer. And probably in many parks in cities all over the country. Here in Los Angeles–at Plummer Park, Barnsdall, Hancock Park. I don’t know if Papp’s Central Park performances encouraged other communities to take theater outside into the community but I give high honor to the producers, directors, actors, and techies all over the country who are doing this. rs
Bravo Don! I have missed your insightful articles and reviews since you left the Los Angeles Times. You are absolutely right about local theater productions. My wife and I are long time subscribers to the Colony Theatre and the Ahmanson, and more recently to the Falcon Theater and the Pantages. I’m so pleased that we can read Don Shirley again.
Don-
Great piece, after spending 10 years in Chicago, I would heartily agree on how wrong it would be to blindly parrot New York.
Would like to add that many of the groups that you mention made their impression with a fraction of the monetary support afforded the Public.
Would love to write more, but I’m on deadline… I’m writing a piece on how the Subway Restaurant chain has made deli sandwiches in America both accessible and essential.
Welcome back and right on. Thanks for continuing to understand and support good theatre everywhere. Maybe all is NOT lost, in spite of the Los Angeles Times and its wimpy, defeatist attitude toward LA theatre. Ever tried to find a review online there? It’s an exercise in frustration.
Good post…but some thoughts here:http://99seats.blogspot.com/2009/11/joe-papp.html
Why all the hate for the Public Theater? It’s as if admitting that a NY theater made a great contribution to the American landscape somehow lessens L.A. theater. Yes, the regional movement is unquestionably a reason why theater has flourished in many communities. But this book (have you read it Don Shirley — or are you just bitter over the article – I have read it…) is about the pioneering spirit of Joe Papp and how those contributions changed the theater forever. Should the LA Times not cover National news or do we in LA need to remain siloed from the rest of the country. You can’t deny the importance of Joe Papp’s initiatives:
1) FREE Shakespeare in the Park. The first in the US, now copied by many communities across our country.
2) The notion that Shakespeare can and SHOULD be performed by American actors. Something, the LA-based Group Theater and the Actors Lab shied away from. Lee Strasbourg himself cautioned against it and Joe Papp pushed forward anyway. The result is Meryl Streep, George C. Scott, Colleen Dewhurst, James Earl Jones, Sam Waterston, Richard Dreyfuss and their like performing Shakespeare.
3) A commitment to non traditional casting – a Latino Raul Julia as OTHELLO. Gloria Foster as Clytemnestra and countless other examples.
4) Producing plays that spoke to the moment – he dared to produce THE NORMAL HEART during the mostly silent AIDS crisis of the 80′s.
5) Took up gay and lesbian causes before it became fashionable.
We take many of these things for granted, especially in LA where our various communities adopt the plays of Shakespeare and theaters like East West can do a Sondheim musical with all Asian American actors. But had it not been for Papp, these things may have never come to pass. Why shouldn’t the LA TIMES cover the most important theater in the history of American Theater? As a theater-loving Angeleno I get so tired of people invoking the “LA Theater as victim mentality.” There’s room enough for all of us and when an LA theater makes a contribution the size of Joe Papp’s, they, too, can have a book and a theater section cover story.
I don’t think any of the commentators here “hate” the Public Theater. I certainly don’t. I lived a few blocks from the Public Theater for one year when Papp was close to his peak. During that year it was certainly one of my most significant theaters — although plenty of other significant companies were also within a few miles. But it’s a huge leap to go from Papp’s list of accomplishments to Turan’s claim that he made theater “accessible and essential” for Americans in general. Do I think that Los Angelenos would be adapting Shakespeare and Sondheim to their own communities even if Papp had never existed? Yes, I do.
Awesome article!! As a true Angelino it’s slightly insulting when our own paper ignores or fails to mention the wonderful artists we have and have had in our backyard. So thank you. :)
Don Shirley on a blog???…is nobody safe anymore in resisting a step fully and safely into the 21st century of communication? Nope…if Don Shirley is there…spread the word to the last of the holdouts in your theatre life. Time to turn on the computer or, in some cases, maybe just get one.
In “Signicant Others,” he started “mid-bite” with his oatmeal (gotta love that image)…then quickly moved on to a strong dose of black coffee–no cream or sugar to curb the edge on his morning howl against LA Times theatre reporting. As one of their former stars in that area, he’s got the crendentials to keep us informed, and now entertained with his wit and wisdom.
Personally, I think the blog format will only give rise to a new freedom of theatrical (saucy?) expression for this veteran newsman. So…to you, Don Shirley, here’s a WELCOME toast. Hope you enjoy it, mid-bite or otherwise.
What a treat to have your waspish voice keeping the theatre in line! I once talked to Joe Papp and he looked at me suspiciously and ?aid “Is that an insult?” I was as befuddled as reading about a book about Papp by a film critic.
Good to have you back!
Laura Hitchcock
Great article, and glad to see you defend the perspective in the ensuing comments.
The problem is not the LA Times covering NY theatre, but the LA Times covering NY theatre while reducing coverage for local theatre.
If Papp is to be commended for making theatre “accessible and essential”, which indeed he had a hand in, then what are we to think of the major print outlets that continue to reduce staff and column inches dedicated to local productions? In doing so, aren’t they making local theatre less accessible and essential?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am the Artistic Director of a small local theatre that has, until recently, received a great deal of support from local publications. And I am thankful for each opportunity we were given for audiences to learn about our work. However, our most recent production was honored by being LA Stage Alliance Ovation Recommended and yet received only 3 print reviews (and not one from the Times). In contrast one of our earliest productions had 14 critics in the house opening weekend!
Hopefully audiences will find the essential and accessible voice they need (like Don’s) through new outlets like this one.
Blabbingly,
M-