Theater Doesn’t Need Movies to Give It Value

Despite the claims of playwright-producer Matt Cooper in Jan Breslauer’s article (“The Play’s Not the Thing,” Calendar, Nov. 3), for most of us who own, operate, produce and direct 99-seat theater facilities in Los Angeles, the play is the thing, was always the thing and will forever be the thing.

How can Cooper--who is described in the story as a former film student with no prior stage experience--proclaim that nearly everybody who creates theater in Los Angeles does so with the hope of breaking into the movies? “That’s what theater is about here. It’s not about putting on a great show. . . . Theater is definitely frowned upon,” Cooper says in the article.

What motivates is the crossover from stage to film; it is not for the love of the stage, the story says.

Breslauer’s article notes that Cooper’s project (“A Piece of My Heart”) started as a “talky” screenplay and was later changed into a play at the suggestion of his agent with the goal of finding a movie deal. This is not how theater is created in Los Angeles.

Of the 700-800 productions launched in the 99-seat theater circle here yearly, only a handful are produced with the sole purpose of becoming films. They are the exception, not the rule. A composer rarely writes a concerto with the goal of it becoming a pop song.

Making Cooper and a couple of others the subject of a major feature in the Sunday Calendar with a headline announcing “The Play’s Not the Thing” does harm to the image of Los Angeles theater. Portraying the 99-seat theater community in this way is an insult to the thousands of actors, writers, directors, producers, designers and technicians who work each year in intimate theaters.

A balanced article would have included those of us--and there are many--who have for years dedicated ourselves to creating an art form essential to the cultural life of this city. It’s what we do.

It’s been our experience that a trend opposite from “The Play’s Not the Thing” is happening: artists flocking to 99-seat productions not to enter the film or TV world at all but to escape from it.

We’ve had more than 1,500 pictures and resumes submitted to us from actors for our next production alone and it’s not because they all want to be TV stars. It’s because actors want to work and are desperate to create something meaningful and challenging with their lives and art.

The theater provides it.

TV and film work is often unsatisfying and always too seldom. Now even name actors are working in smaller theaters--and opening small companies of their own--for the same reason. It’s work they can care about.

To have three people in Breslauer’s article--a writer, producer and actor who left New York--pass judgment on the motivations of Los Angeles theater artists is appalling. These individuals do not speak for the 99-seat theater community and the article does not paint an accurate picture of why we’re here and what we do.

We create theater for theater’s sake--it’s too often our only reward.