University of North Carolina drama professor Scott Walters is up to his old tricks again – alienating the nation all in the name of Theatre Ideas, Whatever:
“Is there anybody actually thinking out there anymore? George Hunka and I have never seen eye to eye as far as theatre values, but damn it, he makes an effort to actually put some ideas out there. I click around my RSS feeds, and the only blogs I see addressing anything approaching ideas are the management and marketing blogs. Otherwise, it is an alternation between self-promotion, political musings, and open threads on general topics.
“To me, much of the theatrosphere seems flaccid, superficial, and intellectually lazy.”
Oh Scott. Praxis Theatre loves you so damn much. Even if you wouldn’t know Broadway if it came up and bit you on the ass.
“Flaccid, superficial and intellectually lazy.”
Isn’t that what the internet is for (aside from porn)?
Yeah, that was embarrassing, especially since I LIVED on 44th and Broadway and I STILL didn’t recognize it. For some reason, I couldn’t see Broadway cutting across the map. Anywho…
As Alison pointed out, I need to clarify that my focus is on American blogs. I actually have been very impressed with the liveliness of the Cannadian bloggers, and I am going to try to expand my Australian blog reading to see if it is as good as Alison tells me it is.
Other than that, I stand by my characterization.
And I love you so damn much too.
“Flaccid, superficial and intellectually lazy.”
Wow. Well. Coming from a guy who wants to make a name in theatre without actually having to DO THEATRE, I see this as the highest of ironic comedy.
But maybe that’s simply just my sarcastic American sense of humor, obviously if we’re not challenging Scott enough, we welcome the opportunity for the Canadian and Aussie theatre folk to entertain him.
Seriously, the above statement is not what I would call challenging to anyone (or any of my blogger friends) at all, nor is it based in any realistic reading of the blogs I follow, which are many and diverse . . . I know I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to involve myself in Scott issues, but since this is your blog, Ian, I feel I can comment to you regarding Scott’s insult to many of my good American friends who blog about theatre.
The above statement of Scott’s, it’s not at all challenging, as I see it, it’s something else entirely . . . there’s even an actual American definition for it.
Back home in Iowa we called it “being a dick”.
Possibly the time it takes to talk about ideas is so short, especially with blogs; and the time it takes to create a show, and therefore have something workable on which to form ideas from, to talk about, hasn’t changed since paper was invented; so maybe current and inspiring material is running out faster than it can be naturally generated. (Possibly not a theatre-only problem) The solution: to paraphrase an old film adage, “it’s not the time it takes to talk the talk, it’s the time in between the talk that takes the time.”
Gah… I, for one, could care *less* what a damn Professor has to say about theatre… seriously. Great way to isolate yourself from the real world, dude. Stay in a cloistered, tenured uni position. :p
*sigh* In most other fields of endeavor, the academy is seen as a partner, the R & D arm of the industry. But theatre is mired in a know-nothingism that guarantees its irrelevance.
“But theatre is mired in a know-nothingism that guarantees its irrelevance.”
Again, in Iowa we call this “Being a dick.”
Must have a limited vocabulary in Iowa.
…hence we have the petty bickering common to all blogs, while the theatre artist learns his lines and makes his lunch for tomorrow’s rehearsal…
Nahsir, we have quite the vocabulary Iowa.
But basically a dick is a dick, no matter how you dress it up or put lipstick on it.
You sir, are a dick.