The Play Is Still the Thing

Don Shirley’s article announcing the Geffen Playhouse’s upcoming first full season of plays was interesting (“Pain, Gay Love and a Gentle Musical,” Calendar, May 20). Shirley is a knowledgeable writer and an excellent critic too, so I have no complaint with his reporting. However, I am concerned with comments made by Gordon Davidson, Mark Taper Forum artistic director, and Gilbert Cates, Geffen Playhouse producing director.

It appears that both theaters are competing for the same type of plays that the Taper has been doing for years and that concerns me. Do we need more of the same? It’s no secret that the Taper has been struggling to maintain its subscriber audiences in recent years while at the same time having to cope with the downsizing of the NEA and other funding sources for nonprofit theaters. (Thank God for people like David Geffen.) The same pattern led to the undoing of the resident company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Why? One of the reasons is that audiences were not satisfied with the choice of plays being offered. I saw some wonderful plays at the Theatre Center, but I also heard many people complain that they were tired of the experimental, avant-garde plays that they were experiencing and that they longed for a good old-fashioned comedy.

Davidson talks about an “informed audience,’ but many people believe that they are informed enough by the morning newspaper and the TV news, and that when they go out to the theater, they want to be entertained. They say that they go to the theater to forget their troubles momentarily, but often end up leaving the theater frustrated and emotionally drained.

Cates said that he “would like to encourage a younger audience to go to the theater” and mentions the proximity of his theater to UCLA, but does he really expect many of the 25,000 students with complex differences in culture and background to go see a play about “a dark historical figure” or another one about “a classic fool from Jewish literature”? I doubt it. They more likely would go see a revival of “Barefoot in the Park,” something to which they could relate, not that there’s anything wrong with “Barefoot in the Park.” It’s an excellent play, written by my idol, Neil Simon.

Older audiences who traditionally have attended the theater are dwindling and producers are going to have to wake up to the fact that they need to produce plays that are of interest to young people if they are to survive. Now that the new hit musical “Rent,” with its youthful cast, has invaded Broadway, perhaps it will attract many young people to the theater and, hopefully, producers will realize that if they’re going to attract new and younger audiences, they’re going to have to give the audiences what they want. Sure it can be informative and meaningful, but let it also be entertaining.

We owe Davidson a debt of gratitude for his talent and dedication through the years in bringing great theater to Los Angeles and elsewhere, and Cates is a talented man with vast experience in theater, film and television, and I wish both of them continued success. I’m sure they will agree with me that it is time to inject new and fresh ideas if theater is to grow in Los Angeles. I am confident it will happen.