tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072609778452128258.post7433170387849438802..comments2024-03-04T10:17:35.836-08:00Comments on MARISSABIDILLA: "Furious Improvisation" reviewedMarissa Skudlarekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864377900420377361noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072609778452128258.post-62909971076550557182010-08-19T23:28:03.154-07:002010-08-19T23:28:03.154-07:00I agree that some of the Federal Theatre's pro...I agree that some of the Federal Theatre's projects overstepped the line and showed too much political bias. For instance, taxpayer money probably shouldn't have been used to produce a show supporting Roosevelt's plan for public ownership of utilities--that's too much like propaganda. Trouble is, many politicians in America are just CRAZY and will stir up controversy about the stupidest things (I am talking mostly about social conservatives). For instance, they might say of a David Mamet play, "That play has too many swear words! You can't take children to go see it! Taxpayer money shouldn't fund THAT!" <br /><br />So a federally funded theater would get scared and produce only the most innocuous, the least controversial shows. And then the conservatives would say "See! All they're producing is fluff--silly little farces and musicals! Taxpayer money shouldn't fund THAT!"<br /><br />When it comes to dealing with conservatives, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.<br /><br />(This fall, a theater in NYC is going to revive Kushner's "Angels in America," indisputably the most important American play of the last 25 years--and tickets are only $20! But this is done through private funding, not government support. It would be political suicide to ask for taxpayers to support a play about HIV and gay men and Ethel Rosenberg and scary angels...)<br /><br />P.S. Derricka is a woman--my play has 2 female characters.Marissa Skudlarekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15864377900420377361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072609778452128258.post-64875731425568400122010-08-19T14:18:42.430-07:002010-08-19T14:18:42.430-07:00By a happy coincidence I am reading just now The r...By a happy coincidence I am reading just now The rest is noise by Alex Ross (and listening to Mahler 4th Symphony at this very moment). The chapter about WPA is very interesting for a european. Somewhere Ross says that the public allocation per capita in Finland is 200 times bigger than in USA, that may explain why there are so many frontline finnish composers for such a small country.<br />I am completely against political bias in art (I am an "ivory tower believer) but the role of private sponsors in your country is overwhelmingly higher than in mine, probably for fiscal reasons.<br />Well, it is very nice to find someone at the other end of the world along the same wavelength (is that idiomatic in English?)<br />Thank you so much and I will keep telling you about The rest is noise when I finish it.<br />Is Derricka male or female?Dr.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12677832685066523599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072609778452128258.post-5739012732421050032010-08-18T04:28:11.438-07:002010-08-18T04:28:11.438-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com