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Landscape of Jewish Theater Sunday, March 6 2005

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Title: Landscape of Jewish Theater Sunday, March 6 2005


1
Landscape of Jewish Theater Sunday, March 6 2005
  • The State of Theater in General
  • The State of Jewish Theater
  • Jewish Theaters vs. Jewish Theater
  • New Play Commission Grant 1994-2005
  • Other Programmatic Initiatives

2
The State of Theater Today
  • Costs to produce increase/ decrease in risk
    trend of revivals, Juke box musicals, celebrity
    stunt casting.
  • Severe decrease in New Play production diverse
    voices are not being heard.

3
State of Theater Today (continued)
  • New plays originate in the non-for-profit world
    of Regional and off-Broadway theaters.
  • Future life of a new play depends on publication
    or access to the script.
  • Community Theaters rely heavily on published
    scripts when choosing their season.

4
Theaters That present Jewish Work
  • Broadway
  • Regional Theaters
  • Jewish Theater Presenters
  • Fringe/Alternative Theaters
  • Community / JCC theaters

5
You wont succeed on Broadway If you dont have
any Jews
6
REGIONAL THEATER
  • To strengthen, nurture and promote the
  • not-for-profit professional American theatre. 

7
Theater Communication Group (TCG)
  • 400 Theaters in 47 states
  • 36 have budgets under 500,000
  • 21 in the 500,000-1 million range
  • 25 in the 1-3 million range
  • 6 in the 3-5 million range
  • 8  in the 5-10 million range
  • 4 have budgets in the 10 million or more range.

8
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9
TCG Study of Regional Theater
  • From 1999-2003
  • Attendance has risen by 4.2
  • Performances rose 6.4
  • Over half of the 125 Theaters ended the year in a
    deficit
  • - 30 more in 2003 than in 2000.

10
Performing Arts Coalition 10 City Study
  • In past 6 months more people attend a LPA than a
    professional sports event
  • Audience not limited to older and affluent
    individuals

11
Regional Theater Study (cont)
  • 75 of respondents strongly agreed that attending
    a LPA is thought provoking.
  • 74 of respondents strongly agreed
  • Attending LPA helps them better understand other
    cultures

12
Regional Theaters Jewish Work
  • About 10 of TCG affiliates (of 400 member
    theaters) seek to present Jewish work (not
    including NYC)

13
TCG Members Interested in Jewish Work
14
JEWISH THEATERS
  • What is a Jewish Theater?
  • Defined as such in Mission Statement of the
    Theater
  • Produces Plays of Jewish Interest

15
  • Theatres whose mission statements or seasons
    promote production of plays that reflect the
    broad range of the Jewish experience or
    individuals whose interests reflect active
    involvement in Jewish Theatre

16
Major Jewish Theaters
  • Theater J, Washington DC
  • A Traveling Jewish Theater, San Francisco
  • Jewish Ensemble Theater , MI
  • Winnipeg Jewish Theater

17
DEFUNCT JEWISH THEATERS
  • Jewish Repertory Theatre
  • American Jewish Theatre

18
Major Jewish Theaters (TCG)
19
THEATER J
  • Ari Roth, Artistic Director
  • NPC Received David Shadow and Light, A Drive
    to Israel, Peter and the Wolf, Life in Refusal
  • Other NPC Produced The Common Enemy, Catskills
    Tzimmis, Exile in Jerusalem, I Will Bear Witness,
    The Peoples Violin, and The Last Seder
  • 236-seat Theater
  • this past season, performed to just under 20,000
    ticket holders

Passing the Love of Women
20
TRAVELING JEWISH THEATRE
21
TRAVELING JEWISH THEATER
  • Founded 1978 Founders Corey Fischer, Albert
    Greenberg, Naomi Newman
  • Aaron Davidman, Artistic Director
  • NPC Received Blood Relative, Come My Beloved,
    See Under Love, The Last Yiddish Poet,
    A Fatherless Sky
  • Yearly budget 900,000.00
  • Has performed in over sixty cities around the
    world

Blood Relative
22
JEWISH ENSEMBLE THEATRE
23
JEWISH ENSEMBLE THEATRE
  • Evelyn Orbach, Artistic Director
  • NPC Received Exile in Jerusalem
  • NPC Reading Angel of History (New Play Festival)

Exile in Jerusalem Has gone on to be produced
many times in the USA and abroad.
24
AJT - Member Theaters
  • Chicago Jewish Theater
  • Jewish Theater of Grand Rapids
  • Jewish Theatre of New England
  • Jewish Theater of the South
  • The New Jewish Theater St. Louis
  • Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company
  • Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts Montreal
  • Jewish Repertory Theatre of Western NY

25
New Play Commission (NPC) Grant
  • New Play Commission - 1994
  • How did the grant come about?
  • Need to nurture work of Playwrights via Theaters
    the Institutions are not weak
  • NPC Report, August 2003

26
New Play Commission ReportAugust 2003
NEW PLAY COMMISSIONS IN JEWISH THEATER
27
New Play Commission Report
  • Completed List of 74 Grant recipients including
  • Theater, location, playwright, play title, and
    grant amount
  • Copy of Survey sent to NPC recipients
  • Results regarding impact of NPC
  • Results regarding recommendations for future NFJC
    support
  • Grantees comments/recommendations
  • NPC Production History

28
NPC REPORT - Findings
  • The grant has succeeded in fulfilling its basic
    intention to facilitate the development of new
    Jewish work for the stage.

29
NPC REPORT - Findings
  • Without any seed money, there wouldnt be any
    new plays being developed.
  • - Kayla Gordon
  • Artistic Director,
  • Winnipeg Jewish Theater

30
NPC REPORT - Findings
  • NPC has been invaluable in allowing us to spend
    more time developing new work rather than being a
    slave to existing repertoire in an effort to
    generate income.
  • - James A. Kleinmann
  • Managing Director,
  • Traveling Jewish Theater

31
NPC REPORT - Findings
  • I had every intention of writing/producing
    this play before the New Play Commission grant.
    The grant however, made this intention into a
    reality....it comprised one-third of our original
    budget.
    -Mark Levenson,
  • Playwright

Between Two Worlds
32
How Grantees Allocated Funds
  • To support first performances (readings,
    workshops, productions)
  • Personnel fees (actors, musicians, dancers,
    directors, musical directors, composers, lighting
    designers, set designers, dramaturgs)
  • Rehearsal space fees
  • Publicity materials
  • Production materials

33
NPC REPORT - Findings
  • The Grant enabled me to workshop the play at a
    theatre that would have had trouble paying the
    actors due to the large cast...Without the
    grant I dont know how far down the road I would
    have gotten with developing this particular
    piece.
  • -Jennifer Maisel,
    Playwright

The Last Seder
34
Impact on Grantees
  • The award was able to help by offering validity
    and credibility within the Jewish and theater
    communities.

35
NPC REPORT - Findings
  • As a non -Jewish writer telling a Jewish story,
    it was very helpful to feel the encouragement
    that NFJC found the material worthwhile and that
    they believed we could create a powerful piece of
    theater
  • - Elise Thoron
  • Playwright

Green Violin
36
NPC REPORT - Findings
  • Productions of NPC often led to success with
    subsequent productions
  • A Certain Raquel - Nora Glickman
  • Donna Blue Lachmans Work
  • The Action Against Sol Schumann Jeffrey Sweet
  • Tours I Will Bear Witness, Traveling Jewish
    Theater, One Way Street, Between Two Worlds

37
A Certain Raquel
  • Produced 5 times thus far
  • Future Publications
  • NPC Anthology
  • Bilingual Anthology of 5
  • Nora Glickman plays
  • (in Argentina).

38
The Trouble with Peggy Pieces of
Guggenheim Toured at least 5 theaters By Donna
Blue Lachman
39

The Action Against Sol Schumann By Jeffrey
Sweet Produced 4 times, included in NPC Anthology
40
One Way Street By Eric Bass Has had 4 tours
including throughout Europe
41
Other NPC Enter the Canon
  • Defined as having 3 or more productions
  • 8 - Exile in Jerusalem, Motti Lerner (1994)
  • 4 The Gate of Heaven, Lane Nikishawa Victor
    Talmadge (1995)
  • 3 The Peoples Violin, Charlie Varon (2001)
  • 3 Girl Under Grain, Karen Hartman (1998)
  • 3- Goodnight Irene, Ari Roth (1994)

42
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43
NPC by Theme
44
NPC Facts
  • For the 74 grants (including 2005)
  • Over 126 Theaters developed or produced an NPC
  • About 70 have had full productions

45
NPC REPORT - Findings
  • Some recipients reported a more personal and
    profound impact of the grant
  • It had an effect on their interest in Jewish
    identity and inspired them to re-imagine
    themselves as Jewish artists.

46
NPC Impact on Writers Jewish Identity
  • I would not have written something Jewish-themed
    if not for this grant. I'd really never thought
    of myself as Jewish artist. Now I doThis play,
    is to date, one of the best things I've written
    and one of the most complicated. I am deeply
    proud of it.
  • --
    Brooke Berman, Playwright

  • UntilWeFindEachOther
  • Developed at Makor, ONeill Playwrights
    Conference
  • 1st full Production at Steppenwolf Theater,
    Chicago - 2002

47
UntilWeFindEachOther
I believe great things are ahead for this
talented playwright. Chicagocritics.com
48
NPC Impact on Writers Jewish Identity
  • This continues to be a direction in which I am
    inspired to workI have not really thought of
    myself as a "Jewish artist" in the past.
    Receiving this grant helped me understand how my
    Jewishness is a tremendous artistic source, and
    that I can plumb it more deeply.
  • -- Dan
    Froot, Performance Artist

  • Shlammer
  • Developed at A.S.K. Theater Project,
  • Productions L.A. Theater Center,
  • Dance Theater Workshop NY March 2005

49
Shlammer
Dan Froot danced, juggled and all-around amazed
and delighted audiences a hyper-animated tour de
force that gave us the truly memorable Jewish
gangster turned vaudevillian star. -- Sara Wolf,
LA Weekly "Best of the Year" December 28, 2001
"A brilliantly sustained performance"-- Lewis
Segal, Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2001
50
What Next?
  • Publishing
  • Access
  • Networking
  • International

51
Publishing
  • NPC Anthology
  • Nine Contemporary Jewish Plays
  • From the New Play Commissions of the National
    Foundation for Jewish Culture
  • Additional publishing funding?

52
Access
  • Updated Catalogue of Jewish Plays
  • Online
  • Database capabilities
  • a la google

53
Networking
  • Getting the word out
  • Conference?
  • Retreats?
  • Fee based on-line community?
  • Listservs

54
International
  • Exchange
  • Residencies
  • Israel/Europe

55
(No Transcript)
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