File puptcrit/puptcrit.0505, message 59


From: "Mark S. Segal" <segalpuppets-AT-comcast.net>
To: <puptcrit-driftline.org-AT-lists.driftline.org>
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Rats, rats, rats...
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 20:01:28 -0400


Hope I am not belaboring a point here.
A story is a vehicle for something you want to communicate.
One can put the focus on any element that means something to them.
But it can't be ever stressed enough that communication is the goal. If it
is not, then why do it?
If it doesn't enlighten your vision in some fashion, which can be 
communicated to an audience, then why do it?

And then the question becomes who do you want to communicate to.
And what.
If it is children then those sensitivities have to be taken into account. If
it is a family audience then again those sensitivities have to be taken into
account.
If it is an adult audience well you get the idea.

Ya got to know your audience (something that took me well over 20 plus years 
to understand). And I am still not sure that I do.

And you know one can't please everyone. I saw a show at the Conn. Festival
and discussed it with a friend. She loved it, I hated it. Felt that it
didn't communicate anything, she on the other had quite the opposite
reaction.
Who was right? Neither or both of course. Once a piece is done it belongs to 
the viewers.

By the way with the fear of retribution I will say that I really like some 
Disney stuff. Hate that it is Disney, but they have a theme that I can 
sometimes relate to.
Loved Julie Taymor's Lion King...felt bad that it was Disney. But she 
overcame that.

There are always study guides or program notes that can help...of course the 
"complainers" don't read them.

It can become then a performer's challenge on how to meet (and recognize) 
those objections before they become objections.

But of course (heard a great line yesterday) it is a rule of thumb and 
thumbs were meant to be broken.
Ouch that hurts! Could easily end a career.

Mark S.





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Evy Wright" <evy_wright-AT-yahoo.com>
To: <puptcrit-driftline.org-AT-lists.driftline.org>
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 6:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Rats, rats, rats...


> Mary Robinette has a good point. Why do parents bring
> their children to see classic tales if they don't want
> them to see the stories? Not that this helps any of us
> who have suffered through the complaints.
>
> Recently a theatre near Atlanta did a run of
> "Deathtrap."
>
> SPOILER: IF SOMEHOW YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN THE PLAY, READ
> THE SCRIPT, OR SEEN THE MOVIE VERSION WITH CHRISTOPHER
> REEVE OF DEATHTRAP, AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE
> TWIST...
>
>
> STOP READING NOW!!!!!
>
>
>
> Okay, for the rest of us who know the play which has
> been around for decades, an audience member wrote a
> letter to the local paper complaining that she and her
> party were offended by the homosexual content of this
> play and that it was not appropriate for their town.
> They went to see a delightful play about murder and
> mystery and instead got hit with (gasp!)
> homosexuality. The resounding response to this letter
> was that if you could possibly be offended by a
> theatrical piece, heaven forbid, making you think
> about the world around you, then you should RESEARCH
> the plays you see or stay home.
>
> And isn't this really the same issue as softening the
> endings of classic children's stories?
>
> -Evy
>
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