90% done

I am down to minor tweaking to the lining... but essentially the coat is done... the beautiful blue dress was a group effort but I might mention not a small task either. Opening is on Wednesday... oy!

New plays are an odd beast...

I recently opened a new play called Oedipus el Rey. The story is Oedipus Rex, transposed onto California Latino gang culture. I've been living with this play for weeks. I read an early draft, thought it a rough read, and slowly as we got to opening I've seen it become a solid show worth seeing. The performers are engaging, the prose is musical and the staging is dynamic. The problem I have with it is that sometimes the transposition is too literal for the action to be fully believable in a modern context. On the one hand if you're calling your play "Oedipus" you had better have the story intact. What exactly is Oedipus king of? The ghetto? The crime business? It's not clear... and finally (spoiler here) when Oedipus puts his eyes out (I will refrain from telling you how it is accomplished in this production via blog post in case any of my five readers wants to see the show) I don't think the motivation is sufficient in the modern context. Perhaps it's a moment of weakness in the play or staging that could be fixed... but the whole end makes me think that this play would be better if we weren't so bound to the Oedipus tie-in.

There are three simple but important things you need for any play. You need a performer, content(like a story, music, action, dance...) and an audience. If you lack one of these three elements you have nothing. Usually additional elements are nice (like costumes, lights, sets, atmosphere...) but you can do a show without them.
This play retells a familiar story so that the audience knows what to expect, they come in knowing 20% of the play. The journey is in the story telling. The audience enters with a fore-knowledge of the timeless issues brought up in Sophocles' Oedipus (human kind's destiny and effort to control it, violence...) hopefully they also latch onto the modern issues it brings up as well (like California's recidivism problem or modernity versus tradition). The trouble is trying to make a modern play equally effective as a classic. Is it possible the play could be stronger without the old Oedipus infrastructure? If so, who would come to see it?
The problem may be that 'Oedipus Rex' is a play over 1500 years old and our little show is less than a few years (If we count all the time it stewed in the playwright's brain). The baby play needs some maturing, but at the same time it's important to get people to come out and interact with it for that to happen.
It is an old problem. Shakespeare and Mozart stole almost every plot they ever wrote a play/opera on top of... it is a brave old tradition to get butts in seats. There is nothing new. Not really.

Another sinking Ship

There are many businesses that are doing poorly in this economy. Any lack of diligence in financial spending from the past is suddenly catching up with everybody. Depending on corporate sponsors who are failing can sink a non-profit's income rather quickly, and any number of other factors unique to each company will lead into the sudden discovery that there is no more pay-roll past a certain week.
American Musical Theater in San Jose found themselves under a $2M debt because of a bad business deal and have already gone down with Chapter 7 bankruptsy
Shakespeare Santa Cruz recently needed a bail out of $300,000 and miraculously made their goal.

This week another local company is facing financial crisis. Instead of commenting on it at this point, I am simply posting the email that we were all sent. It may edify, and who knows, some angel may decide to give them the $300,000 that they need... I wish them luck, mostly because I like working there;

**** the email ****

The Magic Theatre Must Raise $110,000 By Friday [January 9th]:

Please Help Magic Reach Its $350,000 Goal

Please donate now to save this treasure of American Theatre

https://server15.lfchosting.com/pursued/magic/pages/donate_form.shtml

San Francisco's nationally acclaimed new plays theatre, MAGIC THEATRE, has raised $240,000 since its initial appeal seven days ago. With the funds raised, we began rehearsals for our next production—Tough Titty by Oni Faida Lampley—slated for previews beginning January 24th. Our staff, furloughed for two weeks, is back at work with pay. In order to continue the 43rd season beyond Tough Titty and stay open, MAGIC must raise a total of $350,000 by January 9, 2009. The funds will allow us to retain staff, continue the season, and remain responsible to our creditors.

In a world where more and more theaters are eliminating the challenging and risky work of mounting new plays altogether, please help us fulfill our commitment to new work. We're $110,000 short of our goal. You can make a difference. Please donate now.

Our core value of risk over commercial gain makes MAGIC a challenging endeavor in any economy, and going forward, MAGIC is committed to a new model of financial stability for a new world—without compromising our mission. Today however, MAGIC's accumulated debt of $600,000, combined with sharp declines in earned and contributed revenue due to the global economy, place us in imminent peril of shutting our doors in March.

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel explains the importance of Magic's mission in this letter of support. Please click here to read A Message from Paula Vogel.

For 42 years, San Francisco 's MAGIC THEATRE has been central to the cultural life of the Bay Area and beyond, giving life to some of the most important, diverse, and powerful voices of contemporary American artists, including four Pulitzer Prize winners. From its humble beginnings in a Berkeley bar, MAGIC has emerged as one of the crown jewels of American Theatre. For those of you who have sent us money, large amounts and small, we are grateful. If you have waited, please donate now.

In an attempt to close the gap between MAGIC's expenses and revenue lost as a result of the recession, the Board, in concert with the staff, raised additional funds and cut the $2 million budget by over $300,000. The closing of MAGIC THEATRE would be a great loss for artists and audiences here and across the country. The second largest theatre in San Francisco , MAGIC employs 200 artists annually and touches the lives of tens of thousands of people. We need to keep our artists and our work on the stage!

Artistically, MAGIC is thriving, building upon its rich legacy under the artistic direction of Loretta Greco, who joined the theatre last spring. The critical success of the first two productions of this season demonstrate the rigor to which MAGIC adheres in each aspect of new play production—and the hoped for excitement, awe, and wonder that come from watching great art play out for audiences.

We need your help to raise $110,000 by January 9, 2009. Please help us keep our doors open by making a donation today of $15.00 or more. Please give whatever you can to save MAGIC THEATRE. No amount is too small or too large. Each of you can make a difference.