Throwing a bone to pick

More on "Mamet for girls" et al. from Marisa and in the comments on my last post.

Here's a question for you playwrights out there (and anyone else with an opinion). Mia McCullough had an anecdote at the panel about a male playwright friend of hers who complained—somewhat tongue in cheek, but with a modicum of sincerity—that it was hard for him too, because all the festivals only accepted submissions from female playwrights or playwrights of color. Mia emphasized that it was in jest, but said she could see his point. (I'm paraphrasing from memory here, so if I'm mischaracterizing I hope Mia or Kerry or someone else can correct me.)

My thought at the time was, aren't festivals for female playwrights (or playwrights of color or gay playwrights, whatever) and "second series" and, you know, only running black playwrights during Black History Month—aren't these all forms of ghettoization? Festivals and workshops and second stages aren't the same as full productions on mainstages.

Reading the full text of the San Diego Union-Tribune piece that Kerry quoted at the panel (and it's worth reading the whole thing), I found this passage:

Annie Weisman, the extravagantly gifted comic writer whose "Be Aggressive" about Southern California cheerleader culture was a 2001 hit at La Jolla Playhouse, turned down the chance to have her work included in an anthology of female playwrights. She did not want to be ghettoized.

What do you guys think? Are festivals of minority under-produced factions of playwrights a good thing, or are they the equivalent of the kids' table?

Comments

[Marisa Wegrzyn]

I'd rather they exist to give writers productions to develop the craft, though they are a bit how I feel about welfare. If I were on welfare, I'd appreciate it. Then I'd use it in hopes to one day not have to use it. I don't want it to be an end-stop.

I've never turned down a "women's work" reading or workshop in the past, and I've met some great actors, directors, good folk through them. That may be more important to me than rejecting them for fear of being ghettoized. These festivals and second series are going to exist, and to good benefit for a lot of people. From there, it's a matter of how you use them towards the next step.

And you have a Chuck E Cheese Super Token photo on this post which is simultaneously amazing and baffling.

[Kris Vire]

From American Theatre's February issue: a PDF.

[Kris Vire]

As for the Chuck E Cheese image, in my head I was equating ghettoization with tokenization, so I did a Google Image search on "token." This was the first image that came up, and I have a strong association among Mitzi Mouse and Skeeball and tokens, so I thought it was appropriate.

I'm still hoping to win enough tokens to get the Chinese Finger Trap.

[Bilal]

As an ethnic minority writer, I've often found myself wary of submitting specifically to "Asian" writer outlets or festivals, even for as few of those avenues may exist, because I have been paranoid about being perceived and pigeonholed as a writer of "ethnic" work. I do have an interest in the issues that affect the Indian/Pakistani community and the Muslim world in general, and have written about these things before, but I also have an interest, for example, in 1930s noir detective stories. I have an interest in Greek mythology, and in baseball. I would like to write about all of these things without wondering that my name alone will make people assume "Oh, it's going to have that 'Desi' spin on it."

My contention is that I'm an American writer, not a Desi-American writer.

The flipside of that is that I have too often closed myself away from these avenues due to that fear of ghettoization. I'm trying to find a happy medium.

[Marisa Wegrzyn]

I was content to go with this association:

women's writing = fun

Chuck E Cheese Tokens = fun

*therefore*

women's writing = Chuck E Cheese Tokens

Appreciate the clarification. Enjoy your Chineese Finger Traps. I was a cautious child who wouldn't stick a finger in anything labeled a "Trap", Chinese, Mouse, Lint, or otherwise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhSHOh9Q8tQ

[Kerry Reid]

I can understand Weisman's stance and I would never ding someone for not wanting to be associated with something that separates you out on gender lines. On the other hand, as a playwright, I've had work developed through Diva Fest at the EXIT Theatre in San Francisco three times, and it's been a great experience each time (and not just because they pay writers even for workshops and readings -- which I'm told is not always the case at smaller houses). The festival also isn't female-exclusive, as they have produced work by male writers as long as the stories either focus on women or offer great parts for women.

So I agree with Marisa -- it's another opportunity to make connections and get work out there. As long as the venue isn't separatist a la the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (Bad Spelling = Liberation!), I don't really have a problem with it.

And I thought it was interesting that Lydia pointed out that she often requests black directors for her plays, not just because she thinks they'll have a better handle on the material, but because she knows that, outside of February or the "black" show in the company's season, many of them struggle to get work. I don't think that's an argument against doing such programming -- but it is an argument in favor of thinking "If someone is good enough to be produced or to be directing a production in February or March (Women's History Month), then they should be good enough the rest of the year as well."

[Tony]

I'm a little torn, as I'm actually producing a festival of early female playwrights this summer.

No one has heard of Susanna Centlivre, Hanna Crowley, Joanna Baille Elizabeth Inchbald, or any of those gals, so we figured we'd put 'em up and let people decide for themselves...

But I did balk at the idea of only doing staged readings. They always ring false to me. (excepting new work here.) I always felt that staged readings give off the impression that "people should know about this--but they're really not good enough for us to produce."

I think I quibble with panels, table discussions and readings when they take the place of productions. They seem to say: Look I'm doing my part, we're talking about it . . . sorta like a hybrid SUV.

The Kennedy Center's "readings" of the August Wilson Cycle with $65 tickets is a prime example.

[Jenny]

I can only speak as a middle-class white woman, but I have say that I’m pretty firmly in the camp of “take whatever chance you can”. Because what’s the alternative?

I think the last 40 years have shown that progressive measures (Affirmative Action, Title IX) designed to equal the playing field have been fairly effective.

Of course, many of these legal and legislative decisions have been based on the idea of prohibiting discrimination, but the result of their being enacted has certainly encouraged a wider field of people to participate in activities that had generally been available to white males alone.

And selfishly, I think I’d just rather have my work in front of an audience because I’m a woman playwright, than not have it in front of anyone at all.

[Reina]

I have to agree with Jenny.

Also, re: Mia's friend. If anyone is allowed to complain about ghettoized festivals, it isn't some white dude.

I feel the same way about affirmative action. It works. It isn't perfect, but as a white person, the problems with it are not my problems.

[Meg]

I'm a little late coming to the party, I know. We're in the midst of selecting Flashpoint's season lineup (you can imagine the fun), and it seems like there's always an email that goes around a bit late in the day that say "uh, there are only 3 plays on the table by women." From a producing standpoint, I feel we have to be consciencious about that. AT THE SAME TIME, we have to go with the plays that best fit our mission and the flow of the season. It's a bit of a balancing act.

PS - Be Aggressive is fun! We looked at that once upon a time but the overwhelming feeling was "...well, we just did Schoolgirl."

[David Moore]

As the presumptive “white dude” whose original question to Mia prompted this interesting discussion (unless Mia’s been chatting up other white dudes), I have to say that it’s fascinating to observe how that question (part of a much longer conversation with Mia both before and after the Dramatists event) has been interpreted, reinterpreted and misinterpreted -- just within the context of this thread -- so that it no longer resembles the original query or its intent.

I would suggest that there’s just the slightest possibility that the descriptors “white” and “male” before the word “playwright” have led some of the commenters here to make assumptions about who I am and my motivations. Hmm… Would it help for you to know that I’m gay? Or from Washington state (but born in the Bay Area)?

Oh well… who am I to say what motivates others. I’ll save that sort of exploration for the plays I write. But my very small, inadvertent role in this subsequent conversation does make me wonder if we aren’t all just a little bit guilty of wearing blinders. Sometimes? Anyone?

For the record -– as if anyone asked me –- let me offer several quotes from my end of an e-mail conversation with Mia. (I’m assuming her replies are private, until she says otherwise.)

“How much of the current Feminine Dilemma is based on current data, and how much of it is based on perception (layered, perhaps, with many years of real experience)?”

“It's very, very helpful for me to know the data, even if the result of your research is so disheartening. Hopefully, it all helps point the way toward making positive changes, for women playwrights specifically and all playwrights in general. As Carl Rogers said (and I repeat, ad nauseum), the facts are friendly.”

“This is one of those sensitive areas -- like race -- the very sensitivity of which gets in the way of open dialogue. (E.g., once one is labeled a racist, all conversation ceases.)”

And yes, as a part of that conversation I did bring up the many contests and festivals and commissions and other opportunities that are designed to identify and promote female playwrights and playwrights of color. I also wrote, “I don't see any for white males only (for the obvious reasons)” and noted that winning a contest or being part of a festival was not the same as a full production. The purpose of that part of the discussion was to note that what may seem like “opportunities” for non-white, non-male playwrights may make white male playwrights feel as if they are now the subject of discrimination, whether or not that’s indeed the case. And that a perception is often more powerful than a fact. Which leads to my larger question: "How can we get white male playwrights to understand the problem if they don’t see the problem?"

At this point, I could provide a long list of my credentials as a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, but we’re all angels in our own eyes, so I won’t bother. Moving forward, as in the past, I will do my best to let my work -- and my work with others in the theater community -- speak for me, on this issue and others.

Aw hell, let me make one last point: I believe that the only way to make any lasting change, in the theatre or in society as a whole, is to first understand both the facts AND the perceptions that influence our translations of those facts, and then to act accordingly. Whether that’s in the context of a blog thread or on the world stage.

As Ann Landers would say, “’nuf said.” (From me, at least.)