I had coffee this afternoon with a Bay Area director who, for the sake of propriety, I will leave nameless. I asked him, being new to the area, where I could find the Richard Foreman, Wooster Group, or Richard Maxwell of the Bay Area. His answer, New York. We kept talking about Bay Area theatre artists and the discussion kept coming back to a similar point. By and large the artists out here lack a certain craft and rigor that is taken for granted in places like New York.
Directors, actors and designers all seem to suffer from this. A sort of detachment from the work. As if what we are making is merely some fanciful diversion to fill the time of the idle. I am being extreme to make a point, but sadly the underlying critique is not that far off the mark. I have experienced this with technicians here too who thought they had hung a light “close enough” to where I had drawn it.
No.
While we are talking about art and the lines are not so clear as two plus two equals four, there are right and wrong answers. The right answer is the idea that has been taken to its extreme, explored in full detail and carefully put in its proper place and time. The wrong answer is the idea that has aspects left unexplored.
As we were talking I was reminded of a moment in a technical rehearsal for a show I did in San Francisco a while back. We had blocked out a good chunk of time to work on the final few seconds of the piece, a bit of stage choreography, lighting and sound that would finish the play. After several variations and nearly an hour of work one of my collaborators said “well, it’s close enough, why don’t we just do this.” No. I said, this is in fact very important and we need to get it right. Fortunately the director agreed with me and despite the protestations of our colleague we forged ahead and found the right answer.
I don’t remember if I came up with this idea or if I heard it somewhere but the following has been a guiding principal of mine for some time. The work we do may, in the final analysis, not be as important as rocket science or advanced medicine or nuclear physics, but we must act as though it is. In short, to make what we do worthwhile we must give it the fullness of our attention and dedication and artistry.
I have seen a number of people tout the wisdom of the phrase “do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good” but I think that lets us off the hook. We should, no, we must always strive for the perfect. Certainly those of us making art wherein we expect our audience to both pay a not insignificant sum of money and spend a good amount of time, must strive for the best work we can do. And that, in art, is the perfect. It is the best work we can possibly do. And if something does not work, then we scratch what we have and begin again. Because “good enough” deprives our audiences of what they paid good money and time to see.
But more than that, good enough deprives us, as artists, of our potential. Settling for less than perfect deprives us of the opportunity to manifest the sublime. We may not always reach that place. Quite often we run out of time, or space or lights or money, but even then we must struggle until the end to perfect these things we have made.
This kind of rigor is not easy. Perhaps though, it is easier in a place like New York. In a place that does not have such immediate natural beauty to distract the eye and mind. Perhaps here, the struggle of art is that much greater since the gorgeous Bay views and amazing food make “good enough” appear to be a fine place to stop and watch the setting sun.
Yeah, I’ve totally noticed that with every show I’ve seen here.
There is a lack of specificity. There can be talent and a lot of good raw material but specificity lacks. I constantly find myself asking “so… why did they make that choice here but not there? did they not notice that it isn’t consistent with the vision ?”
I was starting to feel like a snob for feeling that way so I am glad you noticed too.
This is so depressing to hear. We’ve been thinking of moving to another city, with the hopes that things would be better there.
What do you think you’ll do to cope with this?
I think that this lack of rigor may be an epidemic in small professional theatre around the country.
There are theatres that I’ve worked with in other locales that are prone to similar issues as those you cite.
At notes I will bring up problems which are easy to remedy to make the show more complete, more finished, and they will be dismissed by directors or other members of the artistic staff. I will ask to run a complicated piece of scenic and lighting choreography again, and a director will tell me, “We can just look at it in the run tomorrow.” Components of sets which I have designed are arbitrarily cut under the reasoning that it doesn’t really make any difference and will save time– without recognizing that, say, if the set does not have side walls, it might need to be significantly redesigned.
On other occasions I have focused on things as simple as the need to hang the framing black drapes cleanly or to make sure that any mechanisms installed in a low grid are painted black and an artistic director has said to me: “You notice those things because you’re a designer. No one else here has that kind of eye for detail.”
And thus the problem.
It sometimes gets to the point where the lackadaisical attitude is too much to fight, and for the sake of my own mental well-being (and some level of workplace-harmony) I give in.
I don’t want to have to do that any longer. I want to refuse to settle for mediocrity. But it’s tough sledding when an artistic team is not all working toward the same standard.
I’m a pretty young designer, but I can’t agree more with you! Of course, I deal with the worst of the worst (School and a community theater. Does it get any lazier?) but I do all of my work by the same standard. And I create work that I’m proud of! I see no sense in putting in so much time for something that is only good enough. And, unlike every other designer I’ve met, I put no less vigor into creating the final scene in a show than the beginning.
Furthermore, I hate it when people tell me, no one else is going to notice, you only do because you’re the designer. It doesn’t matter to me who notices- if its not the perfection i’ve been striving for, it’s not good enough for me, and so its certainly not good enough for the audience. And I know i’ve repeated just about everything thats already been said; its just nice to vent about this stuff to people who know what I’m talking about.
I can only hope that the standard for an artistic team will increase as I continue in my career. Anywhere in particular I should avoid in the future? :]
Good to hear you are pushing yourself. Self motivation is a primary need in this kind of work.
Best of luck!
I would really like to be proven wrong. I go into things giving them full my faith, but more often than not I find the same lack of rigor, what you are calling specificity, most everywhere I go.
Hey Eliza,
Sorry to depress you. Honestly I think the answer is move if you want to. There is good work out here as there is, I am certain, everywhere. It just may be a little harder to find. But the more people who move out to live where they want to and bring a level of craft to the work that might otherwise be lacking, the better the work gets.
I have seen some good traditional work out here. But it is sadly true that the level of rigor found especially in New York, is not as prevalent.