Despite the evidence, I'm optimistic about American theatre. I have hope because I have given up looking for clear, normal logic. I am encouraged because there are still smart, hardworking artists out there trying to measure results and fix the system. That said, there isn't a single fix to this wacky system.
I'm a playwright with an above-average career. I've won awards, gotten some amazing fellowships, had multiple regional productions, gone to The O'Neill and some of the best development places, wrote a musical that went from Miami New Drama to tour and to Broadway, have a few commissions in the bag, AND I've worked in TV for the last 11 yrs. It's been less a path and more like a TV gameshow obstacle course. Imagine American Ninja, but without any prep and happening at random times in your life. You're walking down the street to the subway, and the ninja obstacle course just begins! And suddenly you're running, diving, dodging spikes...then the obstacle course stops. And just as suddenly, you're back to walking down the street thinking 'huh, what was that about' and then it begins again at seemingly random moments. That's being a playwright.
If someone were to ask the successful playwright/ninja competitor, "What were your keys to success?' They might say, "Quick feet, constant anxiety, agility, a deep mistrust of straight roads and clear fields, delusion, optimism, replaying childhood trauma." This isn't a game plan. It's a training manual for mental illness or a life in standup comedy: be in a constant, low-level state of anxiety, but also optimistic, paranoid, endure long periods of silence and ostracism, and maybe an occasional orgiastic burst of enthusiasm. And if you do survive all that...your colleagues may say 'sell out...it was luck. Or DEI. Or you slept around.' Rarely are there flowers at the finish line. Just people looking like 'huh...well they survived that. Probably cheated, but it doesn't matter. They're only doing August Wilson next year with the holographic avatars of James Earl Jones and Eartha Kitt, and produced by Steven Spielberg. Tickets will be $500 and go directly to the estate lawyers. It'll win the Tony for best celebrity holographs.'
There's no clear rhyme or reason, but there is only absurdity and a willingness to plunge headfirst into the Kafkaesque currents. And swimming in the absurdity will either make you one of the funniest people at the funeral or put you in the casket. It's the reason I don't do 'coffee and tell me about your career anymore.' Because the more I told my tale, the more absurd and unhelpful it sounded. Oh, you wanna know how I ran the obstacle course...
-I was at Juilliard and suddenly had a preternatural feeling that I was going to write and produce web videos. I had no experience but only an intense desire to pay rent. So I went to a libertarian conference -because I knew they had money- and I walked around with this very persuasive pitch. You wanna hear it? 'Hey, my name is Aurin I'm here to make videos for your organization.' I kept doing that until I scared enough people into pointing me in the right direction. Eventually, someone saw the flames in my eyes and got me a meeting the next day with the money ppl. I continued pitching 'I'm here to make videos' until they gave me a job. This could have taken months but my prophetic intensity got me a job in a week with a budget. How did I know to do that? Anxiety driven by hunger? Insomnia? Who knows, it just happened. Could I repeat it again? Don't know, but probably not. Where did that intense 'knowing' come from? Don't know. What advice do I have for you? Walk around like a stalker at various events until someone gives you a job? It might work or you might get arrested.
-So I was writing and producing web videos, and there was a surge in cops killing black people on film. So a news organization reached out to me to write something. And the first article I wrote went viral and that led to more articles b/c cops kept killing unarmed black people. I was writing for multiple publications, and that allowed me to fly out to Hollywood for general meetings. And this BLM story to Hollywood pipeline continued until...editors got tired of hearing about cops killing blk ppl. My writing didn't decline, nor did the violence. It was just the willingness to pay journalists for these stories that faded away...so I pivoted to writing/producing slutty comedic videos for a dating app until that app went out of biz.
-After Juilliard, I read an article about a political satire being greenlit. I asked for a meeting directly and got it. I went out to Greenpoint. Before the interview, I stopped by a local bar for lunch. I asked for a sign. I used the bar bathroom and saw an ATM machine...above the toilet. And I just knew...this is going to go well. Truly. Yeah, it makes no sense. I saw something absurd before the meeting, and it calmed me, anchored me, gave me a knowing that was still swimming in the absurdity. And then I went into the meeting and got the job. What would have happened if the train had been late or I hadn't stopped in that bar with the ATM in the toilet? Who knows?
-A WONDERFUL WORLD tour workshop started the day the WGA strike began. Timing, synchronicity? I had a job. And the WGA strike ended as the AWW tour was winding down, and I was right back in TV.
-The steep downturn in theatre happened when there was a huge explosion in TV opportunities. Wow, TV is amazing, so many playwrights...
-And then TV writing jobs imploded. The steep downturn in TV jobs after the strike coincided with the slow rise of theatre opportunities. What's the lesson?
-In 2015, the first TV room I was in had 6 writers for 13 episodes. 5 of the 6 writers were active playwrights.
- 11 yrs later, the current room I'm in has 6 writers...for 20 episodes. I'm the only playwright.
The only lessons I've taken away from the last 15 years is: read "The Diamond Cutter" by Geshe Michael Roach. And after that... be nimble, be willing, be absurd, and willing to swim in the absurd. It probably won't be one path unless you're the .0001% lottery winner in this game. It will probably be several streams you have to enter before they merge into one you can stay in. Be optimistic but not annoying. Be cynical but not bitter. Be hopeful but not delusional. Well, actually, be delusional but not dangerous. Stalk for things...with charm. Make mistakes and then get back up. Embarrassment is fine, but long-term shame is not. Smile at donors, smile at the board. They will say things that rich ppl say who don't know the obstacle course you ran to get into the room. Smile and nod 'oh that's fascinating. Vacationing in St. Moritz? No, not for me this summer.' If they throw something to rile you up, throw it back 'well what do YOU think about (insert latest scandal or outrage)? I want to hear your opinion.' They will love you if you listen. And you might get inspiration for a character you write later on. Be whimsical, be amused by others and their POV. Anchor yourself in equanimity and compassion for everyone. We're all walking through our own obstacle courses. Empathy will save you and flow back into your writing. Be a playwright.
No comments:
Post a Comment