Theater is King

I haven't posted in while in part because my phone service went out again for nearly a week and also, I have been storing up my sleep. See, I decided my life wasn't insane enough (and really, it wasn't) and got a gig as a stage manager for a rather big show. St. Buffy pray for me, I may have bitten off more than I can chew. It's a big theater, a ten-member cast, and I'm scared to death. You get the idea. Anyway, Idon't know how much I'll be posting this summer, since I won't be getting much sleep or free time once this gets into gear.

On a tangentially related topic, I went and saw the Signal Ensemble's production of Hamlet this past weekend. The only sorta-complaint I can make is that they sometimes talked like auctioneers to get through the massive script. This kept the run time down to a merciful three and a half hours for a minimally cut text. None of this is what got a bee in my bonnet. Signal Ensemble has enough money to use the Footlights program. Basically, this is a slickly produced minimag that has little articles on theater and related topics along with the usual program fare to keep the groundlings occupied while waiting for the show to start or resume. Anyway, there was an article asking various practioners which of the performing arts was the best, theater, music, or dance? I confess, I did not read it, and here's why: it's a stupid question. People who are not in the arts seem to love pitting artists against each other on who gets primacy. And artists are dumb enough to fall for it every time. I saw it in high school especially, and that's also the last time I gave it any serious thought. Because my sister got into music early and my parents supported her, I got told all my childhood that music was the best of all the arts. This got me very resentful, since my talents did not lie in music, but in literature and theater. It took me a while to be able to articulate those feelings, and that led to my disgust with the question of what's king of the arts. I don't think any of them is any better than any of the others. It's whatever floats your boat. I write okay. I couldn't dance if you shot at my feet. That doesn't mean that dance isn't a valid form of expression or any less of an art form. I just can't do it. I may not get a real thrill from watching dance (though I often do), but that has nothing to do with artistry or some artificial hierarchy. One thing I've learned through my sojurn post college is that everyone experiences the world differently. So go with what speaks to you. Anyone who holds his art form higher than any other is an insecure asshole who really needs to make himself feel better by putting others down. And anyone who gets drawn into such a foolish argument as who's king of the mountain doesn't have the brains given a gnat.