We are living in an interesting age...an age where culture is becoming a faux pas and the freedom to express is a cliche.
Ottawa, where is your humanity? Or better yet, where are your artists??
Buried under piles of government handouts, production bills, set designs, costume measurements and old cigarette butts from people who "don't smoke"...
I'm not going to be so bold as to state that Ottawa is alone in its complacency---I suspect it's happening everywhere...at least in North America.
When did it become all about the money? It wasn't always about it...even during the hardest of times...I thought it was about the need to express...
"Hurry up please, it's time."
There's a magic in this place--as there is in every village, town, and city all over this small world...but people aren't able to recognize it because their focus is on survival -- not living. Cellphones, computers, Ipods, blue tooth--have replaced the need to look into a person's eyes or feel beyond your arms reach...far too many other things that need doing.
"Hurry up please, it's time."
Third Wall Theatre had to cancel it's 2011/2012 season. I am really upset about that. I think it's a statement in some way; and an indication of an even bigger trend...
The Conservative government won a majority in the Federal election and are hoping to do so again in the upcoming Provincial election...and we all know what they think about the Arts...
Critics are tired of commenting on the doom and gloom affecting every area of the arts so they prefer to stick with the glib superficialities of boring industry hires and the announcement of CD release parties...
Art is not a charity...art it could be argued is not a business either -- more like an essential service that people take for granted everyday...and yet Art identifies itself as a charity out of perceived necessity--how else would a theatre company pay it's bills? By begging of course!
"Hurry up please, it's time."
There is nothing new about the current state of affairs...life is cyclical and so this is just another turning of the wheel
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However revolutions and evolutions have occurred throughout the various turns...the uninterested attitude of the masses does not have to be the death knell for a dying arts community--it could be it's battle cry
But it would take more than just talking to start the process...it would also take cooperation and huzpah.
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What is the difference between the placement of Art in other countries and the placement within our own? Tradition? History? A recognition by both practitioner and beholder that art does more than swallow up a few hours of a person's life -- it enriches and informs it?
I have sat in a crowded opera house in Budapest and watched as the audience thrilled at the finale, seen patience on a block-long lineup for the washrooms at intermission and heard applause unlike any I'd ever heard live...I have sat in moderate houses in Ottawa and seen scatterings of program fans, heard the sound of boredom, and winced at the sound of a cellphone going off.
"Hurry up please, it's time."
Theatre in Ottawa has lost its way, I feel. There will be people who will suggest these are just musings of a bitter, angry, washed up, pseudo performer no one remembers...but there will be others who can see what I'm trying to say...who witness it themselves and wonder what's to become of this city's theatre legacy...even more people will question the idea that this city has a theatre legacy--and those are the people who will save it!
"Hurry up please, it's time."
I'm going to miss this place...everytime I leave I say that...and everytime I mean it...this city has been very kind to my inner artist -- I was hired when I had no history, was encouraged to write, and I got the chance to play with some of the greatest people I will ever know.
Please do not give up on the art form!
Please work on projects that stir your souls!
Please remember where the magic comes from!
Those are your last orders...and so goodbye! :)
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