Following Up With Some Clarifications

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Monday, 08 February 2010 21:13

I wanted to follow up on the last post to clarify a few things that may not be clear, lest y'all think I'm shooting 100 proof bitch-slapping-haterade with a redbull back.

A few folks have cautioned that I should shut up and back off for fear of retribution.  Many have agreed with what I've written, some disagree, and a few want to pile on. Negatives always get more play than positives. This doesn't mute my criticisms, but I want to clarify that disagreeing with a piece of writing doesn't mean I'm trying to vilify someone.

I should have noted that the posts on The Theatre Loop only go back two years, and The Tribune Archives are more accurate than the categories on the sidebar. To make the case that Jones has never stepped foot in a small theatre, which I have heard, is not true. He has for years with New City and The Tribune. And it's easy to forget that. And if Chris is reading, I want to apologize for not making that more clear. Whether he should more often is debatable. I probably feel differently than the executives at The Trib.

I know a lot of people compare Jones to Richard Christiansen. It is unfair. The city is vastly different and the scene is much, much larger than it was then. I have been here for ten years, and it is much larger even than when I got here.  I don't know, at times it must feel like being Steve Young. No matter what he did, he would never be Joe Montana. Often folks forget both Montana and Young are in the Hall of Fame.

I have never said the Tribune shouldn't cover Broadway, or BIC. What I have argued for is more balance between stories about shows there and stories about local houses. Some folks agree, some disagree. I actually think Broadway in Chicago is good for the City.  I think that we get into trouble though when it it favored over all but the two largest non-profit theatres in town. Broadway in Chicago is a good thing, it towering over everything else is not.

And lest it be interpreted that Jones was responsible for the recent troubles of The House or Congo Square, that is not accurate either. The push to become a major institution before they have the organizational capacity to sustain it is what hurts companies like them. And Jones was not alone in that push. In the case of Congo Square, they never got their feet under them and they grew in a way that was not sustainable. 

In the case of the House, I don't hate the House. I don't think the shows I've seen are as well written or acted as they are hyped up to be, but many have been so much fun that it negates those concerns for many people.  I have criticized some of the things they have done, and some of their less than stellar shows; but the energy they are able to generate in their work is actually pretty incredible. I think if the scripts/stories they tell catch up with their ability to tell them it will be a pretty incredible thing to see.

I don't dislike Chris Jones. I've only spoken with him a couple of times, but he seems like good people. I don't think he's a hack. When he is on, I think he is as good as anyone in the country, if not the best. I truly believe that. One of my favorite pieces of writing on theatre I've ever read was one of his. It's pretty extraordinary. 

I just want to be clear I'm not attacking him as a person. I still completely disagree with a lot of his writing. Add a comment

Doubly Invisible

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Friday, 05 February 2010 22:56

Chris Jones has a post up about the many African-Americans prominently featured on stage right now for Black History Month. "As many of Chicago's black theater professionals wryly observe, theater in this city would much better reflect the makeup of the people who live here if only our arts leaders carried over this kind of programming commitment to the other 11 months of the year."

But it's also a fairly problematic post, beginning with: "In the last week or so, I've seen four different Actors' Equity-affiliated Chicago shows with almost exclusively African-American casts. Demonstrably, it's February."

He also says "they reveal the remarkable depth of the card-carrying African-American acting pool in Chicago." According to AEA's 08-09 Annual Report, 86% of card holders are white. Not only are black artists shut out of most of those institutions Chris writes about in his post most of the year, the emphasis on an Equity Card for validation further pushes many extraordinary artists into the margins.

I left a comment, but as I've said, my comments only make it through on The Theatre Loop if I use a fake name so I'll be surprised if anyone sees it.

my comment follows:

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I know this comment probably won't make it through, as most of mine don't, so no sense mincing words. 

I so want to agree with this post, but the push to be Major Equity Institutions before they've had a chance to get their feet under them is what breaks many companies like Congo Square. 

As Adam Thurman commented on the last post on Congo Square, there are big questions to be considered. The push to institutionalize without the organizational capacity to sustain it, without the support  to do so,  prevents that from happening.  Chris, don't get me wrong, I don't think hurting the growth of any company is your intention,  but I think that push has hurt the long-term growth of The House as well.

A quick look at the posts by category on the side says:
Broadway in Chicago-170
Broadway-115
Steppenwolf-100
Goodman Theatre-89
Court Theatre-22
Black Ensemble-11
Congo Square-10
Silk Road-5
Teatro Vista-2
16th Street Theatre-1
Teatro Luna-0
Rasaka-0
MMPACT-0
ETA-0
Urban Theatre Company-0
Albany Park Theatre Project-0
Free Street-0

There are many more multi-cultural/inclusive companies and culturally specific companies at zero as well. I hope this won't be written off as sour grapes because I run a small non-equity company. I know that Kerry and Nina review a lot of those companies and do a very good job at that. But one would never know that from looking at the Tribune's website.

285 posts on Broadway or Broadway-in-Chicago. 10 on Congo Square, 2 on Teatro Vista. There are many, many who need to step up. Pronto.

It saddens me that you think this is how the system is supposed to work. It saddens me that the Trib doesn't cover most of those companies mentioned in the comment above.  It saddens me that your response to OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE was to write everyone off as whiners. It saddens me that every time you favor a work tied to New York, try to push a work to New York, or review through the lens of “Will it be a hit?” or “Can it play in New York?” it further isolates theatres that look like Chicago.

It is a sad slate. We as a city are the poorer for the companies that are largely ignored.

Tony Adams
Artistic Director
Halcyon Theatre

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Thoughts?
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Reader Review of the Fest

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:25

I've been remiss in not posting this review already. 

Highlights from the review are:

• (Manual for a Desperate Crossing) " . . . To describe the difficult journey, Fornes transforms the everyday speech of the refugees into surprisingly poetic, incantatory choral passages. Marooned on a small platform in the center of a blank stage, the cast of seven in Coya Paz's staging present a moving picture of human dignity amid suffering.
• The festival's highlight is What of the Night? (1989), a collection of four masterful one-acts that chart the coarsening effect of greed and dog-eat-dogism on an American family over several decades. Progressing from Depression-era poverty to postwar plenty to postapocalyptic economic collapse, Fornes uses increasingly grotesque and unreal scenes to show how constant scrapping, scrounging, and selling deform and dehumanize. By the end the characters are fighting over scraps of meat like animals. Margo Gray's grimy, savagely acted production is pitch-perfect and harrowing."

Check out the full review when you can. It's pretty incredible The Reader made it out for whole fest for the second year in a row. Even more so that Zac Thompson took in the entire Festival in one weekend. (Last year it was split up among three critics)

I think they're pretty accurate on how the opening week went. I think Letters has gelled a little more since opening, which is good. The first week was a bit rocky for that one.

I'd quibble about Gossensass being inert; but as I told Zac over on the twitter, coming the day after Sarita and the same day as What of the Night, I can totally see that. I think Gossensass is the one that our audiences will respond completely differently to than industry folks, it's definitely a different side of Fornes from what most folks know. (It's really really fun.)

I realized afterwards this makes nine shows Zac's reviewed of ours in the past calendar year, including both the successful and not as successful ones. Which is pretty damned neat, I think. As he said, he's probably seen more of our work than anyone outside the company.

What do y'all think? Add a comment

The Good and the Garvey

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Thursday, 04 February 2010 10:57

99Seats, RVCBard and Parabasis all have posts up in relation to the last couple of posts. Check them out when you get a chance.

Then there's this.

Thoughts?

UPDATED: CultureFuture weighs in Add a comment

Casting and Diversity

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Wednesday, 03 February 2010 16:03

There are many theatres that could currently squash us in terms of budget. In terms of diversity, I think I'd put our work up against any company in the nation. I am a big proponent of culturally specific organizations; however, American theatres are functionally separate but equal--only some are more equal than others.

When I see a culturally specific organization--one that is entirely Latino, or entirely black--I don't necessarily see that as diversity. If Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America, Friday and Saturday night might be a close second. I am a big proponent of culturally specific organizations. I am a bigger proponent of inclusive organizations.

I haven't been shy about the fact that inclusion is one of our core values. It is something we constantly work at and learn from. Over the four years we've been in existence, some things we've tried have worked well, others haven't. We're still learning. As we worked with more and more directors who were not part of the company with the festival, it became clear that we needed to have a stated policy to give to guest artists.

It may not be the kind of thing that often is seen in public, but its current articulation is:

• Casting Policy: Halcyon Theatre strives to be as inclusive as possible. It is part and parcel of our mission. Diversity does not happen by itself and so we actively cultivate relationships with a diverse group of artists and writers. Working with artists who have diverse backgrounds, talents, and training fosters artistic growth and innovation. Artistic diversity also fuses styles and cultures into new art–forms and can prevent stagnation. We believe that most shows can be cast against type and ask if age and/or ethnicity are intrinsic to character when casting. (Safe is one example in which ethnicity IS intrinsic to the play and it should not be cast against type.) Halcyon Theatre’s directors routinely cross-cast and cast against type and we expect collaborating directors to do the same.

We're continually refining how it is articulated, but the overall vision remains the same. It's a constant process of examining how we view the world, and how we choose to depict it on stage. The most basic principle is: the more distinct voices in the room, the better the art will be.

I have heard many working with small theatres say they want a more diverse cast, but few non-white actors audition. I have had friends tell me they won't audition for most of the companies out there, because as a minority, they know they won't be cast--and so little changes.

There are some things I am not shy about doing. I am not shy about going out and trying to find the best actors I can find.  I want the best actors we can work with onstage. I don't sit back and wait for folks to audition. I am not shy about asking people around town for help, for recommendations. I am not shy about forcing directors to call people back and having people read for roles that normally might not be called for. I typically don't step into final casting, and if I do, it is often making sure schedules will work; but, often directors will cast someone that might not have been in the room.

Every person in the company has different feelings about it. It's something we discuss and thankfully our folks are comfortable speaking honestly about it. Toya felt pretty strongly that A Shroud for Lazarus should have had more black actors and she was honest about that. Adam was upset about how Lorca in a Green Dress was cast. He understood the process to mean that he could be in the show if no suitable Latino's were available. (He was pretty damn good in Green Dress, btw)

One of the things I find a lot is way more people are ok with a role that is traditionally played by white actors being played by an actor of color than the other way around. Jenn and I have to do a better job sometimes of convincing our company that they can be in shows like A Shroud for Lazarus or Lorca in a Green Dress, even if they are not black or latino; we have to show that artists of color can play roles traditionally played by white actors; and we have to prove that it can be done to audiences. I do not think you can reach inclusion by excluding people.

Often diversity is thought of in black or white terms, with Djimon Hounsou and Jake Busey having the only two skin tones. Artists often get passed over if they don't fit those types, or if they have an accent. Artists who are multi-racial--who aren't dark enough to be called in for "ethnic roles" and not white enough often don't have a hard time getting cast at theatre across the country. Artists with a foreign accent often don't get called back, unless it's for a "foreigner" role.

Many artists butt heads with those issues every day, and I think audiences and art suffer if we are afraid to provoke and question what is typically seen onstage, if we are afraid to have a stage that looks like the Brown Line train you would take to see the festival.*

The color of casting is a continual conversation. Because Jenn and I are white, does that mean Halcyon is a "white" company? Is diversity only skin deep? The way the conversation is typically framed, Adam, from Pennsylvania, and Irene, from Belarus, have more in common than Toya and Christine who both grew up in the Chicago area.

The conversation is still evolving. I know a few things for certain: the more open we are, the better the artists and writers we've been able to work with; a theatre catering to a tiny homogeneous portion of the world cannot be sustained; if anyone is excluded from the conversation because of how they look the conversation cannot happen.

Everything else we are still learning.



*had to fit a plug in there. The performance space is easily accessible from the Western and Damen El stops. Add a comment