J. Michael Miller
The Actors Center Journal Vol. 1, No. 2, November 2009
Publisher’s Piece
In January 2006, The Actors Center initiated the National Congress of Actors and Acting Teachers. The purpose was to provide actors with a voice within their own profession. The subject was the “Role of the actor as artist in this society.” The “Congress” was attended by over 100 invited actors and acting teachers, who met over a two day period. The resulting article in the New York Times and a record of the proceedings are available on www.TheActorsCenter.org.
The second Congress was convened in January, 2008. The subject was the “Distancing of the actor from our not-for-profit theatre.” Again, the opening addresses by myself and John Connolly, Executive Director of Actor’s Equity as well as the full transcript of those two day discussions are also available at www.TheActorsCenter.org. At the end of that session, I promised those assembled that our 2010 session would focus on potential ways to re-establish acting companies in our larger not-for-profit theatres.
January, 2010 approaches. That stated objective has been parsed, debated, praised and demeaned in discussions with established theatre practitioners over these last eighteen months. The consensus can be summed up by the response of one former leading theatre executive/now foundation executive: “You are of course right artistically, but I don’t see any way to reverse the course we are on.” Personally, I am wedded to the belief that being “right artistically” should and will prevail. So, “once again into the breech.”
The breech, as I see it, can be summed up as follows:
a) Our not-for-profit, cultural mission theatres were to be based on major acting companies. Commercial producing practices were to be abandoned. Quality artistic endeavor was the purpose.
b) The latest NEA survey boasts that the number of not-for-profit theatres has doubled in recent years; the management of those theatres has become highly professional; the only PROBLEM is shrinking audiences.
c) My response is that the mission of quality “artistic endeavor” has been largely abandoned. There isn’t a sliver of difference between commercial producing practices, and those of our larger “not-for-profit” theatres. Regional entertainment standards have replaced artistic endeavor.
d) Actors are rarely considered part of the “creative team.” They are the last hired, and the least paid. I know of very few actors who can make even a modest living working in the theatre. AND, at any given time in all of those theatres, you will find more employees in the management office than you will on the stage.
e) The theatre is a cultural staple of our society. Actors, really good actors, need to be at the center of our theatre. They no longer are; they cannot afford to be. And we wonder why the audiences grow smaller? There is less and less of import on our stages. Broadway is a theme park, and many of our larger not-for-profits are basically chamber of commerce houses. Good for the downtown economy and city pride, but in large part artistically bankrupt. Not because this nation lacks artistic talent, or vision, but because we as a society lack the will and foresight to support artistic challenge. We are eerily blind to the fundamental needs of artists and our need for their perspectives and insights.
To begin a concerted thrust into that breech, The Actors Center is taking the following steps.
1) In this issue of the Journal, we are posting one actor’s notes about his thirty plus year experience of devoting his life to the theatre. We have given him our “Ongoing Concerns” space. This is not only his concern, this is a personal representation of the central issue our theatre faces.
2) The next issue of the Journal will be devoted to the discussion of the need for a National Theatre. Instead of holding the 2010 Congress that would involve 100 plus invited delegates, we are going to invite statements and proposals, along with a like number of responses and post them with requests for your proposals and responses. In short, we hope to open a truly national discussion regarding the need for our best actors to participate in our theatre. To participate in a way that creates the possibility of artistic contribution that only consistent work together is likely to produce.
3) This online discussion will hopefully engage those who care about the theatre across this country and provide a base of support for our next initiative, which is to launch in spring 2011, the week of the “Actor as Artist” in theatre communities throughout the United States.
As I stated in our first Journal announcement, our purpose is not only to address issues that concern us all, but to encourage action in addressing those issues. May I once again encourage you to encourage colleagues to join our readership and to participate in our discussion forum (click on “Join the Dialogue”). Our theatre means a lot more to us than a commercial entertainment venue, and we need our voices heard if we are ever to get back to the ideals that informed the foundations of our not-for-profit theatre. I have great hope that the new leader of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, will in fact be a forceful leader in this area of cultural growth. My fond wish is that this Journal will provide perspective and support for that effort.
Keep the faith, Michael
