Doubt is everywhere. That's very clear. And it's rather stunning because 34 is the greatest number of productions any play has racked-up since TCG started counting in 1994. It's been a few years since we've seen a phenom like this; Art pulled 30 in 2000, and Proof did 29 in 2002, but since then, nothing's broken 16.
(What am I talking about? Read this.)
Anyway, I spent some time with American Theatre's Season Preview, the second time through with a highlighter, and I gleaned some subtler trends.
Jeffrey Hatcher is the most produced playwright in America. Well, not really, but between Jeckyl & Hyde, Smash!, Ella, The Turn of the Screw, Murderers, and The Government Inspectors he's got a lot of work on-stage this season all over the country.
Martin McDonagh is a close second. He's got A Skull in Connemara, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lonesome West, and of course The Pillowman. He's everywhere. Interestingly, though, no one (in the TCG list) is producing The Beauty Queen of Leenane, which was incredibly popular right around the turn of the century.
The Reduced "fill-in-the-blank" shows are everywhere.
Nuff said.
It's time to dis-qualify The Santaland Diaries. It's been on the list for 8 years running. It's holiday show. It's not going away. Putting it on the list again gives us no new info. Please let it go.
There will be more bad musicals this year. Bingo the musical? Come on. Ray Charles - Live? Written by Susan-Lori Parks for the Pasadena Playhouse? Shame on you. Happy Days ... ? The show won't be worth anything without a young Henry Winkler.
If you're doing an adaptation and don't want to change the name, call it a project. Like The Tosca Project, The Hamlet Project, and my favorite In Spite of Thunder: The Macbeth Project.
Some recent favorites are going nowhere for a while. Plenty of I Am My Own Wife, Intimate Apparel, Richard Dresser & Teresa Rebeck this year.
A couple of newer playwrights are making a dent (in the TCG list). Including Keith Bunin with The Busy World is Hushed (Arizona, Berkeley, Chicago, Houston) Nilaja Sun with No Child ..., as well as Eric Coble, Christine Evans, and Will Eno.
The Santaland Diaries + Tuna Christmas + A Christmas Carol + Dracula = The Humana Festival
Actors Theatre of Lousivlle does every cash cow they can find and then they spend it all on a handful of new plays. Bravo.
