Where Are We Taking The American Theatre?
by Ronald Rand
WELCOME TO OUR TENTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! I’m grateful to you, first of all, our readers, for reading this newspaper and sharing in what it represents. I also offer a very special thank you to all of those who have contributed their ideas and support and have nourished its life over the past ten years.
When I began this newspaper, what was uppermost in my thoughts were three questions: What has happened to the soul of the American actor? How does our theatre tradition shape our lives as artists working in today’s theatre? Where we are taking the American Theatre?
Through essays by some of our country’s finest artists, and through more than 750 interviews, this newspaper has revealed how theatre defines our existence and how the craft of the theatre artist has continually changed and adapted in today’s world. What has been most revealing is how all the artists I’ve talked to believe theatre to be an integral part of what it means to be a human being on this planet.
Every year I see more and more symposiums held, talks, conferences, and festivals – all devoted to sustaining the artist, and expanding our perception of the theatre – yet I am reminded by what Harold Clurman wrote in 1980, in his last published essay: “We still do not know what theatre is – how it comes into being – what it is meant to say, and how it is to be generated.” Can it be true? I thought. Are we missing something?
We always seem to act like we know what we’re doing. What it takes to “put on a show.” Many theatres have the great ‘know-how’ and ability to raise the funds necessary to sustain themselves for ten, twenty, thirty years or more.
But are we ignoring something basic at our own peril? While we are a young country, the simple fact remains, we have not been able to create nor sustain a National Theatre Center, or a National company of actors, for our citizens.
Several times a week I attend the theatre. I also travel and perform in my own play as Harold Clurman around the world and across the country. I teach students at many universities: I witness firsthand the affect theatre plays in our society. So I take Mr. Clurman’s words very seriously. I see how we give everything we can in the theatre with the belief it makes a difference in the lives of our fellow human beings. And our audiences leave, for the most part, having experienced moments of moving drama, high comedy, and incredible story-telling.
What I’ve also learned is true creation takes time. It takes time. The Group Theatre in the 1930’s, and theatre companies since, have known this. They realized that creating great art requires time – to develop as a company – to create the richest life possible for the playwright’s vision – to transform an audience so they walk out of the theatre more alive than they ever felt in their entire lives. Isn’t that what theatre’s all about after all?
Yet more than not, our theatre is given over to constantly starting over, depending upon the ‘right’ combination of a cast, director and a creative team, and on how much or how little money is available, and then perhaps, it will all come together, and “theatre magic” may just happen.
Is this what Mr. Clurman was referring to? Maybe he was reminding us of our sacred duty. Of the very special trust we hold to serve the public and illuminate the human condition and spin the precious threads of life through the greatest theatrical art form we know to exist.
What remains at risk is the art of creating theater, and the lives of our country’s most vibrant artists. After all, they are our truth-tellers, and able to reveal the very depths and passions of our soul.
Today we stand at the beginning of a new millennium. I ask us to raise ourselves to a higher vision, and think what we can work towards together. Of what our theatre can become. And what a National Theatre Center would mean for the very lifeblood and soul of this country, and its citizens. •2007
| RONALD RAND A versatile actor/playwright continues to perform his acclaimed solo play, “Let It Be Art! Harold Clurman’s Life of Passion” (directed by Gregory Abels) around the world. Recently in Paris, Athens, Tbilisi (GIFT Festival), Cyrano’s Theatre (Anchorage), Tucson’s Invisible Theater, Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, Off-Broadway, in 13 states. He has also taught at 25 universities and acting schools. Upcoming performances: Zagreb, China, and Israel. He played Hamm in “Endgame” directed by Joseph Chaikin, toured across Europe as the Fool in “King Lear,” and starred in “Luv” at The Barnstormers. His play, “The Group!” about the famed Group Theatre had its world premiere at NIU. Mr. Rand’s book, Acting Teachers of America: a vital tradition with Luigi Scorcia was just published. Committed to the vision of his teachers, Harold Clurman and Stella Adler, he created this newspaper in 1998 |
