J. Michael Miller
The Actors Center Journal Vol. 2, No. 2
Founder’s Page
Spring is in the air and things are HAPPENING! HELLO out there. HOPE is not just last year’s slogan. Even my old buds started stirring when our new head of the National Endowment for the Arts stands before Congress and says “Jobs in the arts are real jobs.” Translation? What we do is as important to our society as what the next person does. “Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief,” as we used to say in first grade, back in the day. How about “Actor, Director, Playwright,” as our new mantra. Whatever Rocco Landesman actually said, I heard a new voice. Instead of decades of “the arts are good for the economy,” aka, bring in the song and dance team to put a little life in the old neighborhood, I heard “artists play a productive role in this society.” Their work and their products matter just as much and maybe sometimes more than others. I think we have a new Sheriff in town and perhaps a new era of cultural growth and sense of possibility on our horizon.
Spring is fecund in every way. Our sources of sustenance reappear. The sun is closer; the snow melts and fills our need for water; plants grow, livestock have calves, lambs, piglets, seed crops are nurtured for future harvest; and best of all, our sense of life possibility is re-affirmed. This is the time to go to work, to do what we can do to realize that sense of possibility. This particular spring offers possibility for the future growth of our theatre, and I urge all who are part of this particular tribe of artisan/artists to lend your strength and commitment to the task.
In our last issue, we sketched out a rationale and criteria for establishing three or more National theatres that would re-establish major acting companies and commit themselves to presenting classic plays for at least 60% of their repertoire. We have received both strong encouragement and skepticism, along with practical suggestions as to how we might move forward. I want to share some of these responses with you and lay out our steps for moving forward.
One well-argued response held that there should be one National theater; that more than one diffused not only the sense of purpose, but the status and potential cultural clout of such an institution. Another passionately-held opinion supported the idea, but argued that such theaters need not be dragged into the political arena by anointing them National. A third and more skeptical response argued forcefully that we should not be looking to our past dashed dreams to re-imagine our theater, or to European models to establish our cultural standards; it argued for fresh approaches and innovation. And most of those who were basically supportive of our proposed criteria, asked that I flesh out the proposal with a more detailed vision. That we plan to do in our June issue, as well as to publish excerpts from the well-argued responses we will have received.
If all goes as planned over the summer, we will hold a planning convention in October and our third National Congress of Actors in January, 2011, to announce our Actor as Artist campaign for this initiative. You can participate by sending your thoughts and suggestions directly to Philip Carlson or me. OR, join us via our new blog.
Keep the faith, Michael