Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

Steppenwolf’s Director of New Play Development Ed Sobel was recently presented with the Elliot Hayes Award by the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas for outstanding contribution to the field of literary management and dramaturgy in recognition of his work on our First Look Repertory of New Work. What follows is an excerpt from his acceptance speech.

I’ll freely confess to being enough of an artist, or having sufficient ego, that when someone gives me a platform, I feel a responsibility to say something worthwhile, or at least mildly provocative and not tranquillizing…

I am not the first to point out we have to recognize there has been a fundamental change in our culture in the last 15 or 20 years, primarily due to technological and economic forces: the rise of the internet, YouTube, Tivo, DVDs, cell phones, fluctuations in the GNP, competition for sparse dollars and flitting attention for the social good, hurricanes, acts of terrorism and acts of war, the almost complete lack of arts education in schools for the last twenty-five years. Rail against as many of these we wish, they are facts of life. And we ignore them at our peril.

The time of professional regional theaters operating under conditions from the tremendous growth of the 1960’s to 1980’s is over. We can no longer pretend those conditions are still present. In the United States, we are already the marginal of the marginal. Fewer people attend theater than listen to radio. And no one listens to radio. If we do nothing, soon there will not be professional theater in every major city. Instead there will be only a handful of major regional theaters in the country that support artists with a living wage. Ticket prices will be so high that only the most privileged will attend and they will do so as though viewing an artifact rather than something dynamic and relevant to their lives as citizens. New work will be an aberration in the repertoire. We will throw benefits so the wealthy can pay $100 per ticket rather than $110. If you doubt me, just look at our ancestral bones, the opera companies and symphony orchestras.

The path toward that destination is already set. If we do nothing, that is where we will find ourselves. It may be in ten years, or it may be fifteen or thirty. But I assure you, that is where we will be. And the number of people here at these tables who have jobs will be fewer even than now, and of those that do, more will be employed in the study of the thing than the doing of it.

The fact is the very nature of an audience’s relationship to a work of art has shifted significantly. Audiences are no longer content to be the passive recipient of a delivered object. Let me be clear: audiences are not saying they don’t care about art, although we’ve given them plenty of reasons to say just that. But those that want to stay with us, those we can still reach, expect a level of interactivity, investment and participation that demands we be responsive and innovative in the ways in which we create, present and market our art.

First Look Rep, for which I am being recognized tonight, was born out of the desire to create an opportunity for artists, and to achieve a level of engagement both for them and for audiences. It was driven by a belief in innovation, for looking at the challenges that face us and creating a force to address them. The extent to which we have been successful is a testament not to my brilliant imagination but to the dedication of the institution within which I work to be oriented toward the future rather than the past. First Look has been the program right for Steppenwolf – right for our artists, right for our audiences, right for our resources, and our institution. Maybe it’s a useful model for you and yours, maybe it’s not.

Again, I invite you to come see for yourselves. But if you don’t, then I urge you to do for yourselves. Dramaturgs are uniquely positioned to enact meaningful change. Dramaturgs can operate without portfolio, ask provocative questions, interrogate assumptions, think holistically, are passionate advocates, are obsessed with communicating and contextualizing the work. We must deploy those skills where they are most needed and can do the most good. Let’s have no more conversations on the listserv or in these meetings about how to achieve a role in the room, and instead go be active in the room. Let’s not teach our students how to find things to photocopy, but instead instill in them a passion for creativity and the revolutionary idea. Let’s have no more conversations about supporting leadership and instead exercise leadership. The people at this gathering are amongst the most bright, committed, sympathetic, synthetic, passionate thinkers anywhere. Let’s have no more whining about the lack of money or that no one cares — there is not enough money and no one cares — and instead be leaders in proving the value of what live theater has on offer. If we don’t do it, who will?

In our first year, we sold all 101 of our First Look passes within 48 hours. This year it took 24. People are hungry. Let’s feed them.

This entry was posted by Edward Sobel on Monday, July 16th, 2007 at 3:45 pm and is filed under First Look Rep (07). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.