Politics on Stage Part III

Politics on Stage Part III

by | Nov 3, 2020 | Blog

Staging Political Plays Part 3

 

This will be the last blog about political plays at least for a couple of years.

The first one focused on one play as an example of how political plays can be both dated in some areas, and right on point in others. The second was about the ways in which political plays are political – either explicitly political, implicitly political, or an older play that was explicitly about a specific political situation when written, but can now become an implicit comment on a current political situation.

This blog post is about the effect political plays might have in the real world. In essence, do political plays change anything?

I’m going out on a limb here and saying – maybe.

 

Past Examples of Political Plays

 

In some cases, say Richard III by William Shakespeare, it doesn’t seem to have had much effect. No matter how bad Shakespeare made the character of Richard, his great nephew became king of England.

But in the case of the contemporary play The Exonerated, it had a direct effect in the real world. After seeing this political play that was critical of the death penalty, the governor of Illinois commuted the sentences of everyone on death row to life in prison.

Theater CAN effect change.

If you are going to write a political play because you want to change things, you may or may not actually effect the change you’re seeking. But if you are going to write a political play the thing to keep in mind is “more art, less propaganda.”

The best thing that can change things politically is to vote. Did you vote yet?

Make sure you vote.

 

Rhymes Over Beats is a political theater company.

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Politics on Stage Part II

Politics on Stage Part II

by | Oct 30, 2020 | Blog

Staging Political Plays

 

As it is still election season and people are still voting, I’m doing another blog on my thoughts about  political plays. This one will be on the ways that plays are political.

Plays can be explicitly political. In 411 B.C.E, the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes was originally performed in Athens. It is an example of a politically explicit play. The point of the play is that most wars are bad. The plot involves the main character using an unconventional tactic to end the war.

On the other hand, The Crucible, a 1953 play by Arthur Miller, is implicitly political. On its face it is a history play. Its story is about the witch trials in Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. Unlike Lysistrata, its point is not the same as its subject matter. It’s actually about Joe McCarthy and the HUAAC.

Plays are made up of the text and the interpretation of the text by actors and the director, so plays can be explicit when they are written but implicit when they are performed later. The staging can turn explicit into implicit.

For example, Shakespeare wrote during during the Tudor Monarchy. His political plays are explicit. His point, especially in Richard III, is that the Tudor monarchy is good and that of York is bad. Setting the play in modern times in modern dress makes the play an implicit political play.

 

Hip Hop is Political

 

 Hip Hop is uniquely suited to telling political stories. It is an art formed by a specific set of political circumstances.

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Politics on Stage

Politics on Stage

by | Oct 20, 2020 | Blog

Politics on Stage

 

It’s a presidential election year. The election has started. About twenty five million people have already voted.  I’ve voted early, and by mail. So, it seems like a good time to talk about political plays. Specifically, the Gore Vidal play, The Best Man.

The Best Man is a play about a contest for the presidency, but in the primaries, not the general election. The two leading candidates are William Russell and Joe Cantwell. The play was originally performed on Broadway in 1960, and won the Tony Award that year for best play. It was revived on Broadway twice, once in 2000, and again in 2012.

In the sixty years since the play was originally produced, some things have changed in politics – mostly for the good. Some things have not changed, unfortunately.

 

Then and Now

 

In the category of things that have changed for the better is a plot point about the character of Joe Cantwell, the presidential frontrunner. The character is gay. No one knows this. In 1960 this is considered a negative – and something that will ruin his chances in the election. But in real life, in the 2020 election, one of the candidates was openly gay. No one cared. Another point of note is that in the play only men were considered as candidates. This year, we now have the opportunity to vote for a woman on the ticket.

In the category of things that have not changed for the better is that in the play, some of the other characters want to use Cantwell’s gayness against him to bully Cantwell into dropping out of the race. Sadly, the use of personal attacks to damage a candidate is still done.

I wish that theaters were still open and that someone were producing this play this year. It still has a lot to teach us.

We need to put our principles above everything else and vote for the best man (person).

 

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There’s No Business Like …

There’s No Business Like …

by | Oct 12, 2020 | Blog

The Theater Business Model

 

There’s no business like show business.

Literally.

From a business perspective, theater has a problem.

It is a problem that no other business that I can think of shares, and it is very difficult to overcome. You see, in the theater industry there is no way to increase productivity – which means expenses (and therefore ticket prices) must always go up.

 

It’s Elementary

 

For example, say that I’m ten years old and decide to open a lemonade stand. I can go and buy lemons, sugar and water, and spend hours making my own lemonade. I make a gallon of lemonade and spend ten dollars on ingredients and do it myself, or I can buy already made lemonade. If the cost of the already made lemonade is less than my ingredient costs plus the value of my time, then I have increased productivity. I have the option to lower my prices and increase sales, or keep my price the same and increase profits.

Theater cannot do this.

A three character one set play will always be a three character one set play. It will always be one live performance at a time – except like now, when we are shut down because of a pandemic (which happens periodically; just ask Shakespeare).

But the pandemic cloud we are now in has a silver lining.

 

Let’s Zoom?

 

One of the benefits of the current pandemic for theater is the increased use of teleconferencing platforms, like Zoom, to do staged readings. Instead of doing readings live – an early developmental step where the script is read by actors to discover any problems in the script – readings now can be filmed and shown repeatedly to different audiences. Therefore, raising money to do the production is becoming less expensive and more efficient.

This will have a positive effect on productivity and, we hope, on the bottom line for all of us.

First, readings can be recorded and sent to people to view on their own schedule – unlike previously, where you had to be in the same room at the same time.

Second, people can view the reading in the comfort of their own home – unlike a live reading, when often bad weather or illness kept interested audience members home.

Thirdly, you can get people far from NYC interested in your play. All they have to do is to click the link. This is huge.

It may not seem like a big difference, but it should be welcomed. Also,  I’m not saying that theater should disappear in favor of video; just pointing out the advantages of taping readings to reach a wider audience.

What do you think? Is there a place for YouTube, Netflix, etc. in live theater? What is it? Let’s get a conversation started in the comments below.

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Rap in Musicals

Rap in Musicals

by | Sep 24, 2020 | Blog

Let’s Rap

 

Last week’s blog was about how rap songs are and should be a part of the musical theater repertoire.

This weeks blog is about two places, WHERE in the structure of a musical a rap song belongs, and where it doesn’t.

 

Use of Song in Musicals

 

Songs in musicals have different emotional effects on the audience.. A fast song gets your blood pumping, and gets the audience in an upbeat mood. A slow song has the opposite effect. But this is not what I mean when I talk about the structure of a musical.

A musical tells a story, with a protagonist who has a central “want.” This “want” is important – it launches a plot with dramatic action so that the protagonist can acquire that “want.” It”s not something easy to do – he/she must overcome huge obstacles and get stronger, braver, etc to try to get it.They either overcome or they don’t, at the end.

Because the audience begins the musical knowing nothing about the people and the world of the musical, they must learn about it as soon as the curtain goes up. This happens in the opening number. The audience learns what the protagonist wants through the I WANT song. And on it goes.

Every song has a place and a purpose.

 

Show, Don’t Tell

 

The number one rule of playwriting is, “show don’t tell”.  The big no-no is excessive exposition, or “telling.”

Because rap is spoken, you can set up the world in a single song that is an elegant solution to the exposition problem. A brilliant example of this is the opening song “Alexander Hamilton” in HAMILTON..

Another point in a musical where a rap song is the perfect style selection is when the protagonist confronts obstacles. The protagonist confronts someone or something that keeps him/her from getting what they want. A rap battle is an ideal way to handle this. Again looking at HAMILTON, “Cabinet Battle #1” from is a great example of a conflict song.

Finally, there are musical numbers that act as the resolution of the story. They drive home the playwright’s point. At the end there is no new information to be conveyed, but rather, what is needed is an emotional underscoring of the message the audience already is aware of. It sets a mood which can be happy, like “You Can’t Stop The Beat” in HAIRSPRAY, or reflective, like, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” in HAMILTON.

What it CAN’T be is rapped.

Why? Because at the end, we need a melody to convey emotion. Rap is great at keeping us in our head, appreciating the rhymes, the wordplay and the rhythm. But melody creates emotion.

What do you think?

Do you think that a final number can be rapped? I hope I get contrary opinions. Send me any samples of original finales to me at patrickrobad@gmail.com.

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