美国国家公共电台 NPR--Where will the next 'Hamilton' come from now that so many playwrights are in TV?

Where will the next 'Hamilton' come from now that so many playwrights² are in TV?

Transcript³

When COVID-19 hit, Chicago playwright¹ and actor Terry Guest was furloughed for two weeks from the coffee shop where he worked.

"And I thought, when will I ever get two weeks off of work again? Never. So I'm going to write a play," Guest said. "And there was very little pressure at the time. So I just sat down and wrote whatever was on my heart. It ended up taking a little bit longer than two weeks, because I ended up having a little more time than I anticipated."

The play he wrote, The Magnolia Ballet, is the first in a trilogy.

"They all take place in the swampy⁴ part of Georgia where I grew up," Guest said. "There's lots of magic there. Lots of ghosts. Lots of mosquitoes."

The play — funny, emotional — is a lyrical piece about fathers and sons, masculinity, sexuality and how the ghosts of the past shape our present identities.

"I like to say that this story is 100% true, even though it's not all fact," said Guest.

Once it was finished, Guest asked his theater friends if they would give his new play a Zoom⁵ reading.

"Everybody was sort of like, 'Oh, this is pretty good. This is really good.'"

One of the directors in that reading gave the script to Bill Simmons at The Phoenix⁶ Theatre in Indianapolis. He liked it and gave it to Chris Handley at The Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo⁷.

"I read it and thought 'Oh my god this is fantastic,'" said Handley.

The Williamston Theatre in Michigan also liked it and — bingo! — they had enough theaters involved to get money for a "rolling world premiere," from the National New Play Network.

If three theaters that are members of the Network agree to produce the same new play they're eligible⁸ for $7,500 each, "regardless of their budget size," explained Nan Barnett, executive director of the network. Playwrights also receive funding to travel to those premieres so they can experience their work, "in the hands of different directors, on the bodies of different actors and as reflected through the audiences and critics of all these different communities."

Terry Guest used those funds to travel to The Alleyway, a theater contained in a former 1941 Greyhound Bus Station. When the bus station moved in the late 1970s, The Alleyway shared the space with the local police precinct. Now, the theater occupies the whole building, leased from the city of Buffalo.

The Magnolia Ballet, which opened Alleyway's new season, is a tale of tension and release, identity and shame. One gay teen struggles to come out to his hyper-masculine dad. Another denies his sexuality altogether. But it's also funny, with some awkward dancing to Brittney Spears by the sole white character and irreverent jokes about historical figures — including one imagining the character of Prissy from Gone With The Wind as a porn star.

Chris Jones, theater critic for The Chicago Tribune and The Daily News, compared a Chicago production of The Magnolia Ballet, which starred Guest himself, to Michael R. Jackson's Broadway hit A Strange Loop, saying it was "just as poetically⁹ resonant¹⁰ and ambitious," as Jackson's Tony Award-winning play.

Even so, a new play by an unknown writer is not an easy sell to audiences, The Alleyway's Handley said.

"That's what keeps me up at night," he said. "Because it is people of a certain age who are coming to see theater. And the kind of theater that we are doing is truly not something that they probably are interested in."

Handley, one of only two full-time¹¹ employees at Alleyway, said the theater's survival is dependent on grants and an annual production of A Christmas Carol. He says applying for grants is 80% of his job.

That's because there's not a lot of money in regional theater, especially for those stages that take risks on new work. The pandemic shutdowns made things worse as audiences dried up; two longtime incubators for new play development closed: The Sundance Theatre Lab and The Lark¹².

Perhaps even more jarring to those in regional theater, the Humana Festival for New American Plays, one of the most important showcases for new work, isn't coming back.

"It's not a sustainable model based on how we've moved into our 21st century," said Robert Barry Fleming, executive artistic¹³ director of Actors Theatre of Louisville, which produced the festival for some 40 years.

Humana was a major, expensive undertaking¹⁴. Multiple plays that had never been staged before were given full productions: elaborate sets, costumes, A-list actors and directors, even original music.

Another factor in the decision to end the festival, said Fleming, is that other theaters got in on the act. "When we began the Humana Festival of New American Plays, that was a very new idea. Now festivals are kind of so ubiquitous so as to be indistinguishable in a lot of ways," he said. Today there are new play festivals in West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana and elsewhere.

But Fleming said Actors Theatre of Louisville is still committed to new work. "It's rooted much more in the community and rooted much more in [the community's] comprehensive health," he said. One example: The Clinic, founded by nurse and choreographer¹⁵ Tara Rynders, conducts resiliency workshops for healthcare workers. Nurses throughout Kentucky have been participating.

Theaters across the country have been doing considerable soul-searching in recent years. "The pandemic exposed a lot of the underpinnings that weren't maybe as stable as we thought," said Barnett. Everything from supply chains to precarious¹⁶ funding models have been getting more scrutiny¹⁷. Theaters are trying to do everything differently in order to survive.

The problem and perks¹⁸ with TV

Classics — Shakespeare, Arthur Miller¹⁹ — may be sure-fire hits for the older audiences, but new plays are important: they reflect the issues and concerns of society, develop empathy and draw in the younger, more diverse audiences that theater needs. They're also what fuel the commercial theater; many of Broadways plays and musicals started in regional theaters.

Playwrights, of course, are their engine, and there's a deep need for diverse playwrights to produce plays. Yet between the low pay and aging audiences, there's not a lot of incentive²⁰ for playwrights to work in regional theater.

Theater critic Jones said that many of them are looking elsewhere.

"I think one of the most under reported phenomena²¹ is the detrimental²² effect television has had on the theater," he said.

Television is snapping up playwrights. Law & Order, The Flight Attendant, Maid, Shameless, and The Americans are among the many shows using playwrights.

"I mean, every time I look at credits for a TV show, I see one of my favorite playwrights," said Jones, "and when they're writing a TV show, they're not writing a new play."

One of those playwrights-turned-screenwriters is Tanya Saracho. She's unequivocal. "The American theater doesn't support a living for a playwright," she said.

In addition to writing new plays, Saracho founded and ran a theater company, Teatro Luna in Chicago. She now works in TV full-time. She created the show Vida for the Starz network, and has written for Girls and How To Get Away With Murder.

But she still loves theater. "I always say I divorced my first wife and I miss her all the time. But I'm still not coming back," she said, laughing.

Saracho said theater prepared her for screen work, because playwrights are especially good at "crafting character." And when she's staffing a TV writers' room, "I do look at playwrights a lot because you've had to stand on your own without a writers' room."

Playwright Terry Guest — young, diverse, the kind of playwright regional theaters are desperate for — would also love to work in TV.

"I would love to write anything. I would love to write for Issa Rae," he said. "I would love to write on Succession. Succession needs some gay flavor in there anyway."

The National New Play Network, of course, hopes Terry Guest keeps writing plays for regional theatre. The Network even gave him a special award for The Magnolia Ballet: $500.

1 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

2 playwrights   

n.剧作家( playwright的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We're studying dramatic texts by sixteenth century playwrights. 我们正在研究16 世纪戏剧作家的戏剧文本。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hung-chien asked who the playwrights were. 鸿渐问谁写的剧本。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 swampy   

adj.沼泽的，湿地的

参考例句：

• Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
• An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。

5 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

6 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

7 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

8 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

9 poetically   

adv.有诗意地，用韵文

参考例句：

• Life is poetically compared to the morning dew. 在诗歌中，人生被比喻为朝露。 来自辞典例句
• Poetically, Midsummer's Eve begins in flowers and ends in fire. 仲夏节是富有诗意的节日，它以鲜花领航，在篝火旁完美落幕。 来自互联网

10 resonant   

adj.(声音)洪亮的，共鸣的

参考例句：

• She has a resonant voice.她的嗓子真亮。
• He responded with a resonant laugh.他报以洪亮的笑声。

11 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

12 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

13 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

14 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

15 choreographer   

n.编舞者

参考例句：

• She is a leading professional belly dancer, choreographer, and teacher. 她既是杰出的专业肚皮舞演员，也是舞蹈设计者和老师。 来自辞典例句
• It'stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe. 它站在一旁，我优雅的舞蹈指导，并祝福每个指尖与脚尖。 来自互联网

16 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

17 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

18 perks   

额外津贴，附带福利，外快( perk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perks offered by the firm include a car and free health insurance. 公司给予的额外待遇包括一辆汽车和免费健康保险。
• Are there any perks that go with your job? 你的工作有什么津贴吗？

19 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

20 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

21 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

22 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。