By Jane Alden
Tonight, (Tuesday, July 9), there was a performance at Doe Bay of “The Taming of the Shrew,” by the San Juan Island Stage Left Theatre Company, directed by Helen Machin-Smith. Every summer this company takes a production of a Shakespearean play on tour to all the islands and it is always by donation or free if you cannot pay. I thoroughly enjoyed the production, but this is not a review. What this is, is a query to the theatre community here on Orcas as to why they do not support this endeavor. These performers come here and perform Shakespeare for free and we are, to my mind, an embarrassment as a host. Not only are these performances poorly attended, (undeservedly so, as the quality of the productions rates much, much better), but not one representative of any of the theatre companies on this island was present. Nor, in my experience, have they ever been.
When I was a member of The San Juan County Arts Council, one of the issues that came up constantly was the lack of community between the artists of the separate islands and here it is again. Never mind that it would be gracious of our island theatre community to welcome and support these visiting artists. What is astonishing to me is the lack of interest or even curiosity on the part of our theatre practitioners to see what other artists are doing. Narcissistic. And foolish. Any artist worthy of the name knows that you learn and grow by, among other things, observing the work of other artists. Clearly that is not the goal of the representatives of this island’s theatres. And, if this is not a goal for them . . . well, I believe some serious reevaluation, not to say soul searching, should be in order.
If this sounds harshly critical, it is meant to be. It was embarrassing to me and to others who were at this performance to see not one person from any of the Orcas Island theatre companies present. It is ungracious, rude, and ultimately a sign of a mind- set that is turned only upon its own narrow interests with no regard for what exists beyond its own little sphere. This is a prescription for mediocrity and irrelevance. This creates, not vital, impactful theatre, but mindless, lifeless, pointless posturing. And it will not survive. It cannot, nor should it.
So, to return to my query . . . why, Orcas Island theatre personnel, do you not support this event? As a member of the community that you are pledged to serve in the area of the arts, I request that you take a look at this and reevaluate your position in the larger community of the San Juan Islands theatre arts and artists. And an apology to Helen Machin-Smith would not be at all out of order.
(Editor’s note: Orcas Issues received a press release about the event earlier this week, without indicating the time and place of the Orcas Island performance. Theatre-lovers can see “The Taming of the Shrew” by Stage Left on San Juan Island at Roche Harbor from July 11 – 28 at at Island Stage Left at 1062 Wold Road Aug 2 – 18. For further information, go to www.islandstageleft.org )
It was a fine performance–one of the best I have had the pleasure to attend on Orcas Island or anywhere else.
I did see Beth Baker in attendance and Robert Hall did a fine job on stage last night. Both these individuals are involved I believe in Orcas Theatre….
Yes, I was with Beth. I was referring to the theatre directors and their boards . .those who are responsible for, and at the forefront of the production of theatre on this island, and represent Orcas theatre in the community of theatres existent on all our islands. I apologize for my lack of specificity.
I am an avid theatre follower. I have been a member of the Ashland Shakespeare Theatre for over 30 years and usually see close to all, if not all, the plays they put on each year because I simply love theatre. I have to say, this production of Taming of the Shrew takes first place for me. The acting was over-the-top good. I am so grateful to have found Island Stage Left. I hope we all support them!
As an avid theatre-goer, I believe that a great deal more notice/advertising could be done. I am thrilled to now know to be on the look out for these productions, but I think that some one with a background in promotion could/should be involved, such that more than a few people know about this …. and more than a week in advance.
If the above reviews of these productions are truly representative then more prior promo work should be done. And now that you are writing in, I guess that you are promoting it … just after the fact.
Have gone in previous year, but didn’t see anything about it this year. Wish we had a bulletin board on green that would list these types of events. Guests to island would be notified as well as islanders. Other island have this type of community bulletin board for special arts events. Terrel Kaplan
To our neighbours on Orcas,
Thanks to you all for your encouraging words and suggestions. After fifteen years of professional theatre in the San Juans, we leave the publicity up to our hosts at Doe Bay as we are already stretched to our limit publicizing our San Juan Island shows. We open here just one day after finishing a five day tour of Shaw, Orcas, Lopez (2 shows) and Waldron. However, we will now be happy to include the Orcas Issues online paper (of which we were previously unaware) on our publicity notices and invite anyone who is interested in the company and season to email us at stageleft@centurytel.net (www.islandstageleft.org)and/or to be added to our email list. We only use the list to advise of upcoming productions and will now keep abreast of those of Orcas also – Oh, that our ferry system allowed us to travel between islands more easily in the evenings! “Good Will” to all from across the pond!
Dear Jane,
As a member of the Orcas theatre community, I am happy to respond to your column and query. I have been involved with theatre on Orcas for 13 years and am currently a board member and stage manager for The Actor’s Theater. I will not speak for the community as a whole, but would like to speak for myself.
As a fellow theatre practitioner, I appreciate your passion for the arts and what I believe is a desire to see a thriving, supportive community throughout the San Juans. However, I must say that I found your comments to be hurtful and inaccurate.
You have claimed that, “not one representative of any of the theatre companies on this island was present. Nor, in my experience, have they ever been.” This is factually incorrect. I myself, along with other members of our theatrical community, have indeed attended Stage Left’s touring productions. I’m sorry you did not notice our presence there.
To answer your question, “Why, Orcas Island theatre personnel, do you not support this event?” I would respond that I do support it. The first and foremost reason I did not attend this year is simple: I didn’t know about it. Had I known, there is a chance I would have been able to attend.
Furthermore, I would like to address your perception that there is a “lack of interest or even curiosity on the part of our theatre practitioners to see what other artists are doing,” and that the lack of attendance was, “ungracious, rude, and ultimately a sign of a mind-set that is turned only upon its own narrow interests with no regard for what exists beyond its own little sphere”. I for one, take offense to this assertion. With all due respect, you do not know my mind-set. I am most definitely interested in and curious about productions outside the projects I am working on. I hope for great success for Stage Left and all the theatre companies of the San Juans. However, like many others in our wonderful county, my life is busy. I work multiple jobs. I serve on boards, attend fundraisers. I participate in my community, spend time with my family. In addition to all that, I, along with many others, dedicate countless hours to the theatre through rehearsals, performances, and miscellaneous tasks. Yet there are only so many hours in the day and unfortunately, I can’t do it all. To say that this event did not receive the turnout it deserves because of narcissism and rudeness, is itself rude, and inaccurate. Please do not assert that the Orcas theatre community doesn’t care about the inter-island community. I am a member of that theatre community, and for myself, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Finally, I would offer a suggestion that instead of condemning the actions of others, whose motives you are uninformed of, use your influence and connections to reach out to others and ensure that they are in the loop. They may be able to participate, they may not, but either way we would all benefit from the effort to build our theatrical community in a courteous manner.
With respect for the art,
Kate Hansen
Thank you,Kate, for responding to the actual intent of my communication. To respond to what you call my inaccuracy,“not one representative of any of the theatre companies on this island was present. Nor, in my experience, have they ever been,” is INDEED a fact of my experience. If it is my experience, it cannot, in fact, be inaccurate. The point is, there is not, at these events, a presence from our local theatres, and I believe there should be. To address your suggestion that I, “use your influence and connections to reach out to others and ensure that they are in the loop,” I have done several years running, to no effect. I have put up fliers, posted on FB, and emailed everyone I know who lives here. I am not inaccurate. You are taking this personally. What I have said about the state of our theatres here is correct. If you take it personally, you will not be able to support the changes that need to be made to create a healthy, meaningful theatre here, and we do need that. We really DO need intelligent, thoughtful, outspoken criticism here of our arts organizations, and they and we really do need to broaden our view to include the contributions of other artists and other arts organizations. Art is a serious business. We must try to look at it with thoughtfulness and honesty. It is not about personal feelings. And another thing, what you call a courteous manner, is not, apparently my idea of a courteous manner. You were far more personally discourteous to me than I believe I have been to the general theatre community, of which I am also an active part. I did not address anyone specifically, nor attack any specific person, as, in fact, you have just done. I repeat, criticism is healthy and vital. Taking it personally clouds our ability to hear it and use it for growth.
Jane,
I believe we both want the theater community to be vibrant and supportive. I simply happen to be at odds with your assessment of our current state and the manner in which you have attempted to improve it. I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one and hope that the final effects of our dialogue are constructive for everyone concerned.
Regards,
Kate
Jane, I’m disappointed that you jumped straight from “not many theatre people at the show” to “thespians on the island are narcissistic”. That is neither a responsible nor logical conclusion on your part. I, for one, did not even know it was happening until the day before, which was too late – I already had other plans. But I was sorry I missed it, to be sure. As well you know, I will see *anything* Shakespeare related, given enough forewarning about it. Your letter should more rightly have focused on the much bigger issue of “How do we spread the word about island arts events to people who want to know about them?” That is a real problem worth talking about, and one that does not create an unnecessary flame war of needless hurt feelings that will only further fragment our arts community. I think you are the one who missed an opportunity here, Jane.
My dear Jake, and I mean that truly, I did not say anything about “thespians on this island being narcissistic.” I never used the word thespian and if I had I would agree with your point. I was referring, as I have said, to the people who run our theatre organizations, not the people who utilize them. If I had named the organizations, I wonder if it would have been less inflammatory. It would probably have prevented folks like you from taking this personally . . maybe.
All arts organizations need to listen to the people they serve, especially the words of the displeased. If the personnel of those organizations respond to criticism defensively, there will be no growth in that organization.
The lack of adequate promotion for this event is something that Helen has said she will address. It was not the subject of my piece. It was my intention to scold the ORGANIZATIONS for their myopia. This I know exists, as does everyone I speak with about this topic.
Our organizations do not need one more non-critical, across the boards, “everything is grand” and all productions deserve standing ovations proponent. It is hurting them and thereby hurts us. The best thing for them and us is for those who feel they could do better to call them to account.
I am sorry you took this personally. I would ask you to look at the state our theatres are in here at the present moment. I do not enjoy making people angry at me, especially those I care about. I am tired of conversations about how awful this organization or that theatre is, while no one speaks up publicly and the problems mount and we all suffer.
I repeat, this was not about you. How you could think that must be a fault of my communication . . .of my using words that were too general. I was hoping to avoid mentioning specific arts organizations by name. I believe I did clarify that in my response to Kate.
And, by the way, the article itself was in response to the complaint of a very prominent member of the arts community, a “thespian,” greatly respected in this community.
Having reached the time in my life where I am only slightly less old than dirt and having spent more than half of those years as an amateur performer, I think I am qualified to say that the size of an audience has absolutely nothing to do with either the quality of performance or the zeal of the performers. Kate said it best. Increase the awareness. For sure people that don’t know what is happening aren’t going to be in the audience regardless of their interest and ability to support.
And by the way, statistically speaking, any audience more than 10 in our islands is considered effective advertising.
Well, I didn’t know about it. Why a Tuesday? Why only one night? I have gone to Friday Harbor (Roche Harbor, actually) to see some of this company’s productions, and they are absolutely excellent. Sorry to miss “Shrew”–a play that I know almost by heart, having played Bianca when I was 18.
Perhaps the boards in question were not adequately informed–I know that I had no idea of it.
I regret to say again that the size of the audience is not the point of my piece. I’m sorry it is so unclear. It is about the responsibilities of arts organizations to acknowledge, endorse and support the work of other artists and arts organizations.