Letters 6/16/10

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

By JH Weekly User

A brick (or a few…and those I injure, I owe you a beer)
Thank you, Matthew Irwin, for acknowledging our inability as a community to critique, criticize or even comment on the artistic endeavors of our tri-valley cohorts (“Define the Audience”- JH Weekly June 9-15, 2010).  As an actor/musician, I cringe to think someone may not wholly appreciate my performance, my art.  My ego, as that of like-minded others, wants to be seen solely in glorious rapture, without error, without inadequacy. 

However, this is an absurd desire and one my alter-ego (the self-conscious-self) abates rigorously.  No one and nothing is perfect in this world.  It is our through base inadequacies and inevitable shortfalls that we flourish and become more accomplished as artists.  Critiques are an essential element of the artistic endeavor and the end all be all of the critic’s written word.

I have long been disappointed by so called “reviews” of local theatre.  More often than not, the “critique” merely serves as a vehicle for the play synopsis.  I would love to read a review that actually offers an opportunity for those being reviewed to improve, for those reading the review to think, all the while allowing those who have attended the performance a solid base for discussion and greater understanding. 

If reviewers only make positive comments, or skirt the issue entirely and stick to plot-only rhetoric (before retiring to the pub) I dare say, theatre in the Hole, will continue as is, both in entertainment value and social relevance. Theatre simply will continue as theatre, not necessarily “good theatre.”
I, for one, and I am sure I am not alone in this, have attended performances wherein I have spent the entire show taking notes in my head.

I have found myself, silently, mind you, re-directing from my seat in the audience, “Please, don’t turn your back on the audience.  This is a proscenium theatre and the audience must see your face and hear your words…” or “Slow down…  this is the Bard, and though I’ve read this play more than thrice, and seen it more oft than that, I have no idea what you just said,”  and so on. 

I have also seen untapped talent, lacking the direction or the critique needed to better themselves.  I have seen STELLAR performances, which rival that of any national touring theatre I have had the pleasure of attending, and which have gone completely unrecognized.  I have seen shows that wowed me to the point that I cannot, to this day, believe I actually saw such an incredible performance in small town Wyoming, and yet its review was, once again, plot, lacking any differentiation from its mediocre counterparts.  I have (and am ashamed to say this) walked out of a performance, only to read a review later - mostly synopsis - that actually exalted the quality of performance with nary an ill thought. Such reviews hardly motivate me to venture out these days, let alone hop the Pass on my day off.

It is an injustice, for both the artist/actor and the audience, to willfully avoid this commentary. Though harsh reviews don’t win friends, a review should incite a desire to attend, to discuss, to participate, to return. We should, as true friends, be willing to honestly convey the emotions and thoughts evoked by the theatrical experience, as this conversation is often the end and the play, itself, merely the means to that end.  We should, as artist of the written word, be willing to speak our minds and entice others to do the same.  
– Molly Thorn, Victor

Hungry for leaders
How fitting that a popular Wyoming Senator should explain to us exactly why David Wendt will probably win this election. Grant Larson said, “Wendt was brilliant when it came to fostering a dialogue among opposing sides, but isn’t cut out for politics.”

How perfect—a lousy politican running for an important office in a state that is universally sick of politics at all levels.  I can’t wait.  You go, David!  Bring on your brilliance and ability to create dialogue between opposing sides.  We’re hungering for leaders like you.
– Barbara W. Gray, Tubac, Ariz.
           
Bring Out Your Dead
This past Memorial Day evening found me regrouping from a hectic road trip at a motel in Burlington, VT.  Scanning the TV channels I came across a ceremony on CSPAN at the Vietnam War memorial in DC. A military chaplain gave a solemn speech meant to sound significant. This was followed by a drab discussion about the importance of refurbishing the foreboding monument. It was all very official. 

What these military officers failed to mention, however, is the declassified documents confirming that the “Gulf of Tonkin” incident, which was the primary reason for invading Vietnam, was in fact a lie.  The death of 58,159 U.S. soldiers was therefore completely unjustified along with 4 million to 6 million Southeast Asians. 

Fast forward a few years and we’re wrapped up in the same deceptive game. It’s understandable that lying about an incident that never occurred in a remote corner of the world with no witnesses could lead to false pretenses for waging war.  9/11, however, took place in broad daylight in the crowded streets of New York City.
Gratefully, empowered citizens have already declassified the actual events of that fateful day. Photos, video, eye witness testimonials, interviews and dust samples collected all reveal, over and over, how blatantly obvious an unforeseen terrorist attack was actually a planned event inspired by Hitler’s burning of the Reichstag. 

We owe it to those who have wrongfully perished as a result of deadly deceptions to stop this corporately driven evil infecting our government and world.  A critical mass of courageous and determined people is emerging and organizing. It’s unclear how justice will prevail, but darkness inevitably implodes upon itself. This day is coming soon.  Change will be quick. Hope is not lost for light and love always find a way to shine.
– Joshua Doolittle, The Farm, Tenn.
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