Good question. And one that’s been coming up a lot lately. Here’s what some of our peers are saying on the topic (click through to read the full posts):
Laura Axelrod at Gasp, On theater and class:
“Working class issues aren’t addressed in mainstream theater, except in a weird patronizing sense. There’s no variation of politics – no conservative voices, for instance. I suspect this is because those of us [who] identify with the working class also try and camouflage ourselves so we can appeal to a theater audience who can afford $100 for a ticket (or thereabout).”
Scott Walters at Theatre Ideas, Arts funding:
“As artists, we believe that what matters most is what matters most to us. To think otherwise would be to “compromise,” an artistic fate worse than death, apparently. One dare not suggest that the purpose of art is to actually communicate something, and that communication is different in different communities. Let’s just keep those upper-middle-class white folks happy – they’re nice and polite, and if they get bored they know enough to pretend not to be.”
Isaac Butler at Parabasis, Whatever happened to class:
“Most of the directors I know of who are in my peer group (in their late to mid twenties here in New York) who are successful (regularly working, often covered in the news, well regarded etc.) come from money, have serious money, or received some kind of major financial backing or subsidy from a family member, loved one or whatever at key points in their career. I’m not saying these artists don’t deserve their success. There’s enough of a meritocracy still in place that you have to have some talent. But in a job that is as much about the hussle as directing, their success (and mine, although it’s considerably less than the directors I’m thinking of) would be nearly impossible without the financial end.”
oh shit, i think i could write a novel about this topic. where to start? well for starters, i’ll agree with isaac, that it’s a big problem in NYC. All 18 members of my graduating class at the ART moved to NYC. 1 1/2 years later, only 1 class member was still there that did not have a MAJOR amount of money coming in from a parent or the like.
i also think that the expense of theatre keeps artists going back to the upper-middle-class-well no matter where they produce their work cause they’re the ones that can afford ticket prices high enough to subsidize a living wage for the artists. it’s a vicious cycle.
scott also has an excellent point about the different ways that communities relate and want their stories told to them. The reason the theatres are full (when they are full) of people with at least some grey hairs is that the theatre in general has taken little interest so far in communicating to younger audiences in a way they can relate too… i could go on and on…..
The distinctions between independent and mainstream theatre are also important when talking about theatre and class.
There seem to be some pretty obvious problems with mainstream theatre when it comes to its ability to speak to and for anything outside of the status quo. It’s why Toronto’s mainstream theatres have such a strong contingent of older, white patrons. There’s nothing wrong with those kinds of patrons or the stories they want to hear, except – that is – when that status quo begins to interfere with the telling of other kinds of stories. And it’s a class problem when 90% of a city’s theatre resources are dedicated to telling stories by and for a 15% elite. (Not rock solid numbers here, but you get the idea.)
Which leaves independent (read: underfunded?) theatre in an entirely different predicament: lots of different voices, but an alarming lack of resources and support to make them heard. Not to say that independent theatre is immune to these class hierarchies. How many Canadian-born, post-secondary-educated, children of the middle-class are there of us? How many Sri Lankan refugees? Some, I’d image. And some is not none. Still . . .
Ian
we’re also battling the curricular demons here. we primarily learn about old european models in high school , and that leaves many of us disinterested in theatre for the rest of our lives. we lose audience before they ever see a play. it also creates theatre artists who think they have to follow the rules followed in those models.
gotta get indie theatre into high schools to counter the lessons they are eating at the hands of their teachers.
also, indie artists need to value theatre for young audiences instead of looking at it as just something you might do for a steady gig. many of us think of it the same way we do commercial work- “yeah, i’ll do it because it pays.” and that sucks my proverbial cock. we have to value our youth, remember how smart we were when we were the same age, how we craved real stimulus. high school students are people who are in a phase of life of active learning- these are people who we need to be conecting with. sure, lots of them are assholes, but that is true for all of us. in high school there is more hope that it won’t become a lifelong condition.
yep. we have to change theatre for young audiences and honour our youngsters as our next in line.
tb