Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:38:43 -0600
From: "Jesse Ephraim" <JEphraim-AT-ci.southlake.tx.us>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Subject: [Puptcrit] the word "legitimate"


>Okay here is a better way to ask this question....

Good start...

>Now please keep in mind I am NOT talking about billy bob's marionette
>theatre in buffalo new york- im talking about big time legitimate
theatre
>-think broadway, think lincolin center!

Oops!  Dropped the ball again.

If you want to engage as many people in this discussion as possible, you
need to drop the word "legitimate."  Even though it is a standard
theater term, the word "legitimate" is not commonly used anymore to
refer to legality.  It is an out-of-date historical term (in it's
original sense, at least) that is generally used in the way that folks
here are interpreting it - to mean "better than other forms of theater."
Your various statements (see the last quoted one above) - particularly
those about children's theater - would also seem to indicate that you
have feelings about some productions being more important, serious, or
valuable than others.  You won't get much traction with that on a list
devoted to an art form that is often snubbed by the snobbier set.

Try "traditional stage plays" instead, or "big expensive stage plays."

You see this same sort of thing at work when people insist on talking
about "serious literature" versus "popular fiction," the implication
being that some books have more value than others.  They don't - what is
important is the effect they have on the individual.  It's all
subjective.  The term "serious literature" carries the speaker's bias
with it, and will hamper discussions right off the bat.

>How does puppetry and its newest technology and ways of 
>story telling take an original approach to content and form? 
>(how is it pushing boundaries, taking risks, or exploring 
>new ideas in a different way)

That's a bit better, though it still sounds like a "Theory of Theater"
essay question.  Why don't you give a few specific examples for people
to use as launching points?

- Jesse the librarian



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