Us = Them

It's the last day of the Theatre Communication Group (TCG) conference.

It's a wrap up session that includes a lot of what most would call the "next generation" of theatre artists and admins.

I'm lucky to be there.

The question has been posed to us:  "What about your time here at the Conference have you found to be the most challenging/troubling?"

We leap on the questions like pit bulls.  The passion flows.  We all have something to say.  I throw in a statement about how most some theatres are too timid to change in a significant way and that we would need to build our own institutions.

You get the idea.

A voice of wisdom breaks through our ruckus.  It's the one "older" person in the group.  He feels the need to remind us of something:

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40 years ago those that began the regional theatre movement had the same fire, passion and need for change that this generation has.

The people that now head these institutions were once just like us.

And (he reminds us) it's kind of easy to rail against the system when you are making $20,000 a year from theatre . . . because what do you have to lose?

But once you are running one of these big, complex, places and there are a ton of people who will make their living on the decisions YOU make . . . it's hard (maybe impossible) to be the free swingin', risk takin' demon you once were.

That's just how life goes sometimes.

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So I think we, the "next generation" of theatre leaders, have a responsibility to make sure we are as critical of ourselves as we are of others.

We have to make sure that we are fit for the leadership roles that will be placed upon us, one way or the other.

We have to make sure that we run our arts organizations in a way that will not have our grandkids screaming for our heads one day.

And I think we need to acknowledge that doing ALL of those things are much easier said then done.

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Don't get me wrong, I think the art form I love is reacting very slowly to some of the societal changes happening today.

I think that for every Artistic Director doing his best to make art in a hostile envirornment, there is another just trying to hold on to his or her job.

But if we really think we can do things better (or at least differently) then they did, then let us all balance our bravado with a heavy dose of humility.

 

Comments

[mcole]

I remember that. I was there. And I disagreed. That's like saying, I can't do better than the bankers that made the poor choices that are now affecting millions of Americans so I should remember that and remain humble. Arts leaders that are setting the standard and model for the way things are done have a huge responsibility to the rest of us. And perhaps the most important one is knowing when it is time to pass the torch and then orchestrating the success of new ideas and their originators.

And what happens when all those people who make their living off the decisions YOU make are saying "it's time for change" and you no longer keep enough office hours to hear them? Humility might make the rest of us feel more virtuous in our efforts, but I think the charge should be directed to the other side.

[Adam]

I agree with you to a point. When I say humility I'm not talking bowing down to our elders, it's just about remembering that many of them ended up where they are *despite* their best intentions.

That sort of thing could easy happen to us if we are not self aware enough to avoid it.

So it's not humility as a road to virtue, it's humility as a road to ultimate success.

[Patrick]

I'd like to ask mcole - "What is YOUR responsibility?" I hear the old guys have screwed it up and they need to take "responsibility" (how puritanical, but from where I sit, puritanical is popular these days)

I don't think this evolution is about "them" - the old guard - so why are we making it their responsibility? They're doing what they know how to do. That's what people do. Especially in a time of crisis.

And yes, they made bad decisions, and yes, they will need to pass the torch on. But c'mon, ever try to talk you dad into giving up the car keys because he's too... well, old, to drive? That's not something that just happens over a dinner conversation.

I have as much angst about the system and its leaders as anyone. But don't expect the evolution to be easy or smooth. It never has been. And I think leaders are seldom "developed" through programs. Few have been "passed the torch." Leaders of real change create themselves. They seek out the mentors they want. Expecting TCG to pay for my relationship with (fill in the blank leader) is just as lazy as the "guys upstairs" complaining that they have to actually rely on an AUDIENCE to buy tickets and donate to support their work, and not just coast by running half the institution on NEA money. Great if it happens, but not always going to happen.

If organic things happen from the bottom up, then we need to start acting from the bottom up. Create something that works. Within or without your institution. There's an odd paradox I keep running into out there - people want leadership who has spent their whole life in a top down model to suddenly start acting radically different. My mom made it to facebook at 70, yay, but she's not going to start listen to rap anytime soon.

What's that saying? "Be the change you want to be in the world."

The old guard IS going to die out (just like the donor base they live on) because their methods don't work. I'm not going to spend more time worrying about them. I want to explore now, in every little way that I can, other ways of operating. I can't change the way the AD deals with the production manager, BUT I can deal with my interns in a new model. If that works better and the result is noted, people above me notice. It's happened already. And they will go, hey, that works. Because what works gets noticed above all else.

So, there's my diatribe. Create change in the little ways. It will grow. At least that's my plan. And I'm going to agree, that a little respectful humility helps the medicine go down.