A few years ago, people used to gather at the Rendezvous for raucous
quarterly pub forums on special topics in theater. Called Shitstorm, it
was a crucible for ideas—fun, productive, generally tipsy,
and
occasionally harrowing.
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article called “Ten Things Theaters Need
to Do Right Now to Save Themselves” that included ideas such as
providing child care, building bars, and a five-year moratorium on
Shakespeare. The article pissed people right off: “Ten Things” was only
1,000 words long and it generated over 33,000 words in comments.
(Samples: “Your articles are worthless, pretentious, uninformed,
completely masturbatory…” and “I’d prefer
[theater] if I
didn’t have to spend so much time clapping.“) The Seattle Rep
asked if I would host a forum on the article. I suggested we
resuscitate Shitstorm. On Monday night, about 150 people showed up for
several hours of drinking, talking, shouting, and a closing
sing-along to “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey.
(This was
the first of what will be several nü-Shitstorms in the coming
months.)
The crowd was a menagerie: playwrights; designers; directors from
ACT,
the Rep, and On the Boards; a swarm of angry actors; a few
audience members. One of the Shitstorm rules is that whatever people
say can be repeated, but
not attributed. A few of the evening’s
comments follow.
On bitching: “The number-one solution is perspective. We’re
privileged to be able to sit here and complain about being able
to do what we love to do.”
On how to run a budget, from the director of a successful
experimental theater: “We invest in risk. Our revenue is 15
percent and we raise the other 85 percent in donations—our
success is not based
on ticket sales.”
On whether theater is broken: “I’ve been in this business for 20
years, and
theater is as broken—and as fixed—as
it’s ever been.”
On being an audience member: “Hi, my name is Chris, and I’m an
audience member. But I haven’t been to a play in five years. But it’s
like The X-Files. I want to believe.”
On older audience members: “People don’t wake up at 40 and decide to
become theatergoers. People become theatergoers when they’re
young.”
On what theater’s job is: “How do we measure our success? How DO we
support ourselves as artists, or how DO we support what we want to
see as audience members? Those are very different questions.”
On theater in Seattle: “I sit on a national funding panel and people
say ‘this and this and this is gone, except in Seattle.’ We are an
anomaly. We have it lucky.”
On the future: “The real shitstorm is on the economic horizon and we have a moral obligation to help our community through the next
three years.”
On Shitstorm: “I haven’t had this much fun in three months.”
I am Spartacus!
Is that it? Did anything actually get said? The “article” doesn’t tell us anything.
I don’t live in Seattle anymore, but I love that I can come to The Stranger and read educated and thoughtful articles by Brendan Kiley about theater happening there. Whoever thinks he is “pretentious” or “masturbatory” should read theater reviews from other papers (especially other papers in Seattle).
Rock on Brendan and keep up the good work!
I was pissed at Brendan before I went to the Sh!tstorm, but afterwards I was impressed. He sat, and listened, and was calm throughout — though occasionally his face got a little red (I hope he doesn’t mind my saying so). Most people didn’t bitch about him at all. I did some. 😉
Anyhow, I was impressed, and I enjoyed the Sh!tstorm.
P.S. [b]I[/b] am Comte!
When is the next Shitstorm?