As Plays Get Preachy, the Story Sometimes Gets Lost

Don Shirley’s review of “Another American: Asking and Telling” (“‘Another American’ Asks for More in the Telling,” Aug. 14) could have been written about a number of contemporary plays and performances we’ve been seeing lately.

His comment that the play “proves more journalistic than theatrical” is absolutely on the mark. In that sense, it’s not really a play at all but a lecture--in this case, about gays in the military.

There seems to be a trend in theater today to preach rather than tell a compelling story, and when that happens, we lose a sense of the real power of live theater.

In the recent Geffen Playhouse production of “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” every conservative issue was blatantly pilloried one by one (as if out of a catalog), continually taking us out of the story and forcing us to listen to what amounted to a liberal sermon.

The politics of the play aren’t at issue--a playwright can write from any perspective he or she wants. But whatever happened to the ability to subtly weave issues and themes into the fabric of the story? Any great writer knows that it’s the subtext that tells the real story of the play, and yet in today’s theater, writers want to hit us squarely in the head, forgoing any sense of style and nuance.

It’s ironic that for years we’ve criticized religious conservatives for “preaching,” and yet that’s exactly what we’re finding more liberal writers doing today.

Whatever political or moral perspective we’re writing from, let’s not forget that the audience comes to a play to be part of great story. When we show truth through compelling storytelling, it’s far more subversive and powerful, because people come to be entertained and let down their guard.

But when we start preaching, as “Another American” and “Six Dance Lessons” do, the audience immediately reacts defensively, lessening any impact the play might have made.

I don’t attend theater to hear a lecture; I attend to be caught up in a great story that will reach me on a far deeper level.

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Phil Cooke is a writer and director of commercials, music videos, movies and television, and has filmed projects in more than 40 countries. His company is based in Burbank.