Tuesday 4 – June 19th

It hasn’t been my fault I haven’t posted for two days. The great internet computer has been so busy that I haven’t been able to log in.

Interesting walking to LCT. Today the mothers were out in force pushing every size and type of stroller. At one end there are the big units with tires that would fit a car. Some are almost the size of and look like HumVee’s. Then there are the twelve wheel, four axel two seat models. Some older kids have little tricycles with a long push handle on it.

Sight of the morning: A woman comes out of an apartment on West End Avenue with a little dog in her arms. She sets the dog down on the sidewalk and starts to take the dog for a walk. The dog sits down. The woman goes back and picks up the dogs rear end and starts to walk again. The dog sits again. The woman goes back and picks up the dogs rear end again and carefully aligns the dog with the sidewalk. She starts to walk again and the dog sits again. The woman picks up the dog and carries it off.

Today was another busy day. Our days are getting even more hectic as our days remaining winds down. We are now having brown bag sessions during the lunch and dinner breaks. These are sessions the group decided to hold so we could talk about common problems.

Our day started off with 90 minutes talking to Andre Bishop, Artistic Director of LCT.

He described the start of the Non Profit theaters in the late 1960’s. At that time theaters were all doing the old standards and new material came from touring Broadway shows. By the 1980’s the regional theaters were looking for new works but most came from playwrights living nearby. In New York, Playwrights Horizons was trying to support all playwrights by giving them support including readings and productions. Playwrights Horizons had fallen on hard times when Bishop took it over. He narrowed the focus and concentrated on the most promising playwrights: Wasserstein, Finn, Durang, Gurney.

He said the diversity of what is happening around the country is truly astounding. Millions of people go to American theaters each year to see new plays. He is not sure the current new play production model is outdated but it may have become too big.

Last season, for the first time in his life, he did not have any new plays or playwrights to work with. They are in school, have commissions to work with other theaters or are otherwise occupied. “I don’t know if I get the play, but I get the quality of the writing”.

The landscape of theater is changing again. Theaters are being forced, in a good way, to open their doors for a new generation of playwrights. He said he expected to spend the rest of his life working with the writers he grew up with.

He said writers get trapped by tying themselves to second rate directors. They have to be willing to cut the string when the time is right. There are many, many, many more plays today so the competition it tough.

LCT has the only thrust stage in NYC. Remember that thrust stages work well for majestic productions not walls and doors.

In response to a question he said that failure is more interesting to talk about than it is to go through. He said he is not certain that writers, directors and producers learn much from failures because a defense mechanism sets in. He said that he thinks the some of their failures were some of the best work they’ve done.

He doesn’t pick a season. He picks work as he finds good material that appeals to him.

American Theater needs good directors as much, if not more than, it news new playwrights.

He said that the best way for a young director to move up is to work with a GOOD director who can recommend them for a job that is right for them.

He said the best thing about drama schools are the friendships that will last for the rest of your life. He said he is leery of directors coming out of schools who have been taught by bitter, out of work directors.

We spent time talking to Ben Cameron in the afternoon. He used to be the Executive Director of TCG – the national organization of the nonprofit professional theaters. A really interesting speaker. The first speaker who got a standing ovation from us. I’m too tired to include all my notes – maybe another day.

We had asked LCT to put aside some time so we could talk to each other about who we were as directors. We did the speed dating thing: Sit across from another director and have 60 seconds to tell them what kind of work you do as a director. Then they get 60 seconds. Then you have 5 seconds to change seats and do it all over again – 60 times. It took 2 ½ hours and the noise level was unbelievable and we were all hoarse by the end of the night. It wasn’t very successful for me because I didn’t have time to write down what the others did.

Long day. Today was even longer but that is for another day.