FEBRUARY 1996 ----------------------------In this issue------------------------------------------ Voices in Contemporary Theatre CyberTheatre Monthly by Theatre Central's Andrew Kraft TRE Trivia Forum Insider's Tips Gossip du jour ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Voices in Contemporary Theatre Wendy Wasserstein, Susan Miller, and the Woman's Voice in Contemporary Theatre Wendy Wasserstein, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who came to national prominence with The Heidi Chronicles (as well as Isn't It Romantic and The Sisters Rosensweig), cuts quite a figure on the lecture platform. She begins by having herself introduced with a tellingly Heidi-esque story from her days at the Yale drama dept. (more on that later)., quips about her outfit, and her parents' imagined encouragements for a theatre career: Never have health insurance; date only actors, Oh Yes! She frankly admits that she's not an active feminist, but because the character Heidi Holland is she's often perceived to be one herself and is asked many heavy women's-issue questions she's not prepared to answer. She's been approached by dozens of 30-something art historians and told that "Act I was my life, Act II wasn't" And she's been criticized the character's decision to adopt a baby. Susan Miller, author of an autobiographical one-woman play chronicling her bout with breast cancer titled My Left Breast, seems to be in a very similar situation. "My bent isn't confrontational," she explained in a recent online chat, "I try to use irony and humor to get my points across." Yet she's questioned about her anger at a male-dominated establishment that hasn't properly funded research for a women's problem, etc. Miller's play is not about anger nor about Us & Them: "I think about the women I'm doing it for, their partners, men and women alike. I think about my son and my parents... people come up to me afterwards and give me their responses. In the last two years, a lot of laughter, crying, a sense that everyone has access to the play because everyone has a history, everyone has scars." On the surface these two episodes may not seem to have much in common - but they describe a typical experience for women playwrights approached by women audience-members: the response that "your play didn't portray my life, my opinion to the issues raised, my response to the choices presented." That Heidi-esque episode from Wasserstein's introduction involved a man who came up to her after Uncommon Women with the comment "It was all about women, I couldn't get into it" Wasserstein replied that she'd spent the last decade immersed in Shakespearean Histories and Jacobean tragedies, "so why don't you just go back and try a little harder." All of us need to be going back and trying a little harder. No play can be all things to all people, - and no playwright should ever be burdened with being The Voice of women in theatre simply because she's female. Telling a good story honestly is all that has ever been required. As more and more women find a voice in the theatre, more and more facets of their perspective will be represented on the stage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CyberTheatre Monthly Lights! Camera! Data Connection...? How Will Cyberspace Affect the Theatre It is the Age of the Internet, an age where the entire world can be captured through the eyes of Cyberspace in just 24 hours...The television era is on the wane and the Internet era is on the rise. There is a question that keeps arising in the various online theatre forums. How will the Age of the Internet affect the theatre. Theatre is a medium of the moment. It is a medium in which the audience participates in a living, breathing experience in a world created by the actors and the space. That interactivity is something that both radio and television failed to duplicate. Even film was a one-way experience, in effect just television on a larger scale. Yet the Internet, with the interactivity provided by Java and all the other latest technologies out there, also provides a truly interactive experience. Theatre-goers across the world are staying at home, logging into their computers and "Surfing the 'Net" for hours at a time instead of going to see the latest opening on Broadway. And yet, although the 'Net may capture a user's attention for hours on end, there is something cold, something impersonal about the interactivity. Users can communicate with each other, but there is that missing dimension that imbues the in-person interaction. But never doubt that the creators of theatre and the performing arts are using this new medium to enhance their own productions. There are groups, such as the HamNet Players performing "Internet Theatre" on the Internet Relay Chat, a multi-person chat system on the Internet. The George Coates Performance Workshop uses Java and other Internet technologies live in their stage productions. Karen TenEyck uses the Internet as a design staff meeting room. And users of the Directory of Theatre Professionals on the Net and the Virtual Headbook use the Internet to take the place of agents and schmoozing at public events. So what role going forward will the Internet play in theatre? The live multimedia presentations that the Internet can deliver are actually just an extension of the already well-established multimedia technologies that have been employed in high-technology productions for years. This is not where the Internet will have its largest impact on theatre. The Internet, for all its recent glitter and hype, is basically a forum for communication and a repository for information. It is in these two strengths that the Internet can truly add to theatre and the theatre community. The Internet provides an ideal communications medium. Users from around the world can communicate via electronic mail, Internet Relay Chat, or newsgroups. From the start, theatre professionals were using electronic mailing lists, such as Theatre-Theory and Stagecraft to communicate with other professionals and semi-professionals across the world. Questions and discussion topics rage from "What do you consider the best M.F.A. program?" to "How would you stage the opening moment in Hamlet?" Soon after the mailing lists, the newsgroups, such as rec.arts.theatre, began appearing. Soon, the traffic on that newsgroup expanded to the point where the group had to be split into four separate groups, rec.arts.theatre.plays, rec.arts.theatre.musicals, rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft, and rec.arts.theatre.misc. Not only can individuals communicate their questions and comments on theatre with each other, but theatre companies and organizations can communicate their missions, seasons and other information to potential theater-goers using the power of the World Wide Web. Indexes, such as Theatre Central and Joe Geigle's Favorite Theatre Related Resources, have been created to help guide theatre-lovers through the morass of theatre sites out on the Web. In addition, the Internet is a great way to make contacts. It is an equalizing medium, where everyone, from aspiring actors to Artistic Directors are all able to communicate as equals. In addition, contact services, such as the Directory of Theatre Professionals on the Net and the Virtual Headbook can help a performer or other theatre professional spread the word on their talents, abilities and career goals. Directors, producers and playwrights are connecting to get new plays produced. Casting directors are perusing the online headshot services for casting calls. Last, but not least, the Internet is a repository of information. Dramaturgs, directors and students of theatre can find in-depth information on almost any topic only a few keystrokes away. Just visit your favorite Web search engine, like Yahoo or InfoSeek, and search for the topic you're interested in. The amount of historical and artistic references online is enormous. Those who love theatre can communicate, learn and publicize on a scale never before imagined using this new technology. So don't fear the Internet. It will not replace theatre, but will instead have a place as an additional divertissement for the people of the world. And finally, this Internet will actually add to its users' ability to create theatre, and in that, it is truly welcome. Newsgroups discussed in the above article can be found in the Related Newsgroups folder in the theatre forum. Websites discussed in the above article can be found at: Theatre Central: http://www.theatre-central.com/ Directory of Theatre Professionals on the Net: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/quijote/professional.dir.html TenEyck Design Studio: http://www.inch.com/user/kteneyck/ Joe Geigel's Theatre-Related Resources: http://pscinfo.psc.edu/~geigel/menus/Theatre.html Yahoo: http://www.yahoo.com/ George Coates Home Page: http://www.georgecoates.org/ The Virtual Headbook: http://www.xmission.com/~wintrnx/virtual.html Infoseek: http://www.infoseek.com/ Andrew Quixote Kraft is the creator of Theatre Central, the Directory of Theatre Resources on the 'Net, and the Directory of Theatre Professionals on the Net, a free service allowing theatre professionals to list themselves and their contact information in a searchable database. Theatre Central is the most frequented theatre directory on the Internet, with over 1000 individual page accesses (over 5000 "Hits") and 500 links, and growing every week. Andrew is currently fulfilling his final requirements at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a B.S. in Theatre Arts, specializing in the application of Technology to the Performing Arts. For more information on Theatre Central or the Directory of Theatre Professionals on the Net, for information on Andrew's freelance Web Consulting and Site Creation services, or for comments on this article, please contact Andrew Kraft at akraft@theatre-central.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRE Trivia * In Les Misérables, why was Jean Valjean sent to prison? * Which star of The Flintstones played Rizzo in the revival of Grease? * Who is the only director to win an Oscar, Tony, and Emmy in a single year? * Walter Cronkite made his debut in what Broadway revival? * "The Lambeth Walk" is from what award-winning musical? Answers next month Forum Insider Tips: Its easiest to view the Broadway, Touring and Regional Theatre bulletin boards in the Conversation View, Arranged by Subject. The New Theatre Files (Red Filing Cabinet Icon) in the Forum Library holds newly released uploads for 7 days. By checking this area once a week, you can keep up with new files in all of the Theatre libraries. Some bulletin boards contain folders with lots of new discussion and info, be sure to look inside them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gossip du jour... Sarah Jessica Parker in a revival of Once Upon a Mattress... A stage adaptation of Mel Brooks' The Producers (perhaps the least likely, but most interesting of this months rumor-mill produce)... Karate Kid Ralph Macchio in a How to Succeed in Business... National Tour... Sandra Bernhard as Dr. Frank N. Furter in a Rocky Horror revival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1996, Mersinger Theatrical Services