Search

Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & Nightlife

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Theater Re: ISO Conservative Playwrights

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 2:01 PM

I don't understand the recent obsession with wondering why there aren't any conservative playwrights: Alison Carey at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, Nicholas Hytner at the London National Theater, and now Terry Teachout at the Wall Street Journal.

Have there ever been conservative playwrights (other than the newly converted Mamet, who I suspect of a publicity stunt)? What would a conservative play look like? Hooray for the rule of law, minimize foreign entanglements, and strive for fiscal austerity?

I guess maybe The Imaginary Invalid, if abused as a political metaphor, could barely meet those criteria. But really, who cares? Conservative agitprop would be as wretched as liberal agitprop.

From Mr. Teachout:

the problem with today's political theater is that its practitioners see their plays not as works of art but as means to an end. In such tedious exercises in left-wing agitprop as Sam Shepard's "The God of Hell," Caryl Churchill's "Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?" and Tim Robbins's "Embedded," we are presented with a black-and-white universe of victims and villains, a place where every deck is stacked and never is heard a surprising word. Why would anybody with half a brain in his head -- even a fire-breathing McCainiac, if such a creature exists -- want to suffer through their right-wing equivalent?

Seriously. The theater-of-good-intentions has always made liberals look silly. Conservatives are better off without a version of their own.

And, to repeat: Conservatives who are fond of theatrics either work for Fox News or the clergy.

Share via

Comments (10) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

There are a lot of sideways comments about Mamet's supposed new-found conservatism, but all I read in that infamous article was his claiming that he was no longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal.' That is, he challenged his thinking, and realized that somethings he took for granted he didn't really believe anymore. It's not like he's started blowing the ghost of Leo Strauss. He's just saying that he's not going to define himself by party lines. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Posted by MonkeyNose on November 11, 2008 at 2:17 PM

Has there been much in the way of conservative artists of any medium since the Italian Futurists? Kinkade doesn't count.

Posted by el on November 11, 2008 at 2:25 PM

Playwrights are usually A.) College graduates and B.) Not Wealthy.

Posted by flamingbanjo on November 11, 2008 at 2:25 PM

Conservatives in creative fields are relatively rare across the board. The creative process tends to require a certain intrinsic degree of empathy.

Posted by Dougsf on November 11, 2008 at 2:26 PM

Perhaps Sarah Palin could write a play. An intelligent foray into why we need a conservative President who can't use his/her brains for anything but mouthing nonsense and who shows no inherent need to learn about anything but religious nonsense.

Posted by Vince on November 11, 2008 at 2:28 PM

Ayn Rand was a playwright before The Fountainhead was published. You could also put her on the list of Asshole Playwrights.

Posted by Robin Sparkles on November 11, 2008 at 2:39 PM

A conservative playwright's scripts would be such a chore to read.

Posted by Greg on November 11, 2008 at 4:07 PM

uh, because you need to have an artistic soul in order to make art?

Posted by michael strangeways on November 11, 2008 at 4:20 PM

I would like to see dramatic adaptations of Ayn Rand's works. Some kind of side street production where the audience gets to throw beer cans at the actors.

Posted by famous potato on November 11, 2008 at 7:31 PM

All over America there is nothing but leftist agitprop, save for the brave voices in the wilderness on Fox News and talk radio, and the latter must be saved at all costs.

A number of treasonous Democrats favor muzzling talk radio, and have said so since the election. I do not trust Barack Hussein Obama on any promise or statement he may have made. He is an extremist and a Chicago leftist homosexual thug who isn't even an American citizen, and therefore he cannot be trusted.

While the Democrat Party might have difficulty putting through their Marxist ponzi scheme legislation, they could alternatively institute a policy with regulators (FCC) in an attempt to curtail free speech and suppress talk radio. I also expect attempts to silence dissent on the internet.

Socialist tyranny is very hard to force on a people who are 1) armed, and 2) have a right to free speech. So it is natural to expect a Marxist president elect to make an attempt to muzzle such dissent. Believe me, I know what these leftist scumbags are all about.

Posted by Lord Basil on November 11, 2008 at 9:46 PM