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Friday, March 5, 2010

Theater American Boards: The View from Outside

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 9:13 AM

Regarding this conversation about the fuckedness of American theater and how much boards of directors are to blame: Tories in Britain are talking about cutting arts funding, saying private giving will fill the gap. "Uhhhh" says Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian:

There's a further problem, and this is one of culture and ethos. The rich require a return on their donations — most often, power. This is not automatically a bad thing: there are enlightened, hands-off donors. But look at the US, and we see boards of trustees composed almost entirely of the wealthy, wielding extraordinary and not always positive potency.

Recall this exchange from the Outrageous Fortune discussion on Monday (the subject of this week's theater lead) as recounted by playwright Louis Broome:

[A prominent artistic director] said he would "support local playwrights... if they'll let me." I asked, "Who are 'they'?" He said, "Find me after and I'll tell you."

I didn't find him. I know the answer. "They" are the board, people like Paul the Board Member, who think business is business. Show business isn't business-as-usual. Not-for-profit theaters drop like flies all the time because their boards kill them.

Thanks to Larry Ballard for the tip.

Comments (9) RSS

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The Tories already did this in '86, under Thatcher. Didn't work then, either.

Just another swell in the Idiot Wave.

Posted by Nation on March 5, 2010 at 10:27 AM

The Tories already did this in '86, under Thatcher. Didn't work then, either.

Just another swell in the Idiot Wave.

Posted by Nation on March 5, 2010 at 10:28 AM

Awesome. I'm an idiot...

Posted by Nation on March 5, 2010 at 10:40 AM

*cough* Giant Magnet *cough* Conworks *cough* *cough*

Posted by Rich and Board on March 5, 2010 at 10:47 AM

And Empty Space.

Posted by Brendan Kiley on March 5, 2010 at 11:02 AM

And Tacoma Actors Guild.

Posted by Nation on March 5, 2010 at 11:22 AM

And Coca, and 911, or, frankly, any arts organization where the ADVISORY board thinks they know more about how to produce art than the artists who, um, actually DO produce art.

Fiscal oversight is a fine thing in-and-of itself, but when it comes at the expense of the artistic raison d'etre the organization was created to serve in the first place, then really, what's the point?

Posted by COMTE