L.A. THEATER

Jan Breslauer’s article “L.A. Theater’s Identity Crisis” (Oct. 1) was completely off the mark in its attempt to pinpoint the causes for the continued decline in theater in L.A.

For many years, I published a newsletter of theater events and did programs at over 30 colleges, where I took groups to live shows and held after-theater discussions with the actors. I took people to the L.A. Festival (twice), major theaters and hundreds of shows in 99-seat venues. I also produced several shows of my own. I know what it is like to work at dragging audiences into playhouses.

The two things that are killing L.A. theater are crime and an excess of political correctness. Middle-aged and older women are the backbone of a theater audience. They do not come into the city anymore from the suburbs to see plays. They do not want to deal with aggressive panhandlers, graffiti and possibly getting their car vandalized for the privilege of being subjected to yet another lesson in how bad white people are. They want to be either entertained by a comedy or big spectacle or mentally engaged by a drama without the obligatory PC baggage--and do it without fear.

ROBERT BADAL

Hollywood

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I took offense at performance artist-playwright Luis Alfaro’s quote that “a lot of people who run theaters don’t want to take risks by presenting work that might be too challenging or confrontational.” As the artistic director of Playwrights’ Arena, I consciously select materials that are bold, adventurous and challenging.

There are producers out there still taking risks and forging forward to advance the art of theater. There is Michael Arabian and his In-Site company (who work out of the CBS backlot), the Butane Group, Cornerstone, to name a few who are out on the cutting edge.

We are still out here producing works that are confrontational and, yes, risky--because we feel that L.A. deserves to have the choice and should get what they deserve!

JON LAWRENCE RIVERA

Hollywood

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In the last week and a half I attended four plays (all within blocks of each other) that refute the contention that there is little risky or avant-garde theater in L.A.:

Kai Gottberg’s beautiful poetic work about women coming of age in “Hunger” at Theatre of NOTE; the Hudson Guild’s in-your-face adaptation of “Antigone,” to represent contemporary governmental oppression; Cheryl Hart’s performance piece “A Chunk of My Brain,” an outrageous satire on contemporary women at the Complex, and Oasis Theatre’s presentation of Eric Overmyer’s “On the Verge,” staged outdoors, mind you, at the Pacific Design Center, featuring three “Victorian” ladies hacking their way through space and time to land in 1950s Las Vegas.

JAMES A. MASSEY

Claremont

*

Breslauer’s article ignored completely the systematic destruction of the L.A. Civic Light Opera audiences by the Nederlander Organization, first by moving the location from the warm and elegant Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (I still miss that milieu for musicals), then by importing increasingly dismal roadshow relics that might or might not be shown when and where scheduled.

Believe me, those audiences are still there and waiting for the next new theater experiments.

R.A. LEE

Los Angeles

*

I differ with producer Joan Stein’s comments (“Staging the Debate,” Oct. 1) about “a lot of television and film executives who seem to be more hungry for some kind of theater association. . . .”

I don’t understand where Ms. Stein gets her information, for over the years it has become readily (and frighteningly) apparent that TV and film executives rarely go to the theater in Los Angeles. Nor do these executives, their production companies and studios associate with or tie-in with theaters, large or small.

There are many dozens of small theaters and showcases that constantly stage highly creative productions with unusually talented performers (at no profit to anyone). But rarely does the TV or film industry take advantage of what could be a wealth of future material and talent for them. I guess it is easier to fly off to New York.

DANIEL SAXON

Saxon Associates Management

Los Angeles