Comments on: We Are Not These Hands

By: Joy

Joy — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:51:50 +0000

But what did y’all think of the play, huh?

By: Gary Winter

Gary Winter — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:58:06 +0000

Tim-So I guess you’re saying Irene Fornes is still emerging because she hasn’t been on Broadway or writes for HBO? Interesting. Why don’t we equate “emerging” with “rookie” in the sports world-you’re a rookie for, what-one or two years out of college. Then you’re an athelete, and should be judged on your merits as one. Sheila Callaghan is a playwright-end of story.

Thanks
Gary Winter
Playwright

By: ronnie

ronnie — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 22:33:12 +0000

DCTR values comments from our readers. Discussion is what it is all about. That said, try to think through your comments and do not attack anyone. Opinions are always welcome here — attacks are not.

I personally am in awe of the people that God has blessed with amazing talent and perform in and put together the shows I am privileged to attend. It is the view of DCTR that all of the talented people that make up the DC theatre community should be cherished and appreciated.

Ronnie Ruff DCTR Founder

By: mike

mike — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:21:37 +0000

wow. tim, how you qualify what an established playwright is? Gross. Really gross. i am embarrassed for you.

By: Shirley

Shirley — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:27:49 +0000

Hmmm. Okay. Right. Yeah. Okay, seriously? The term "emerging" has never really bothered me. It suggests that one is still learning and growing in their work, which is something I still hope to be doing when I am eighty, if I am still doing this. Stagnancy is a bore. What DOES bother me are the implications of this: "She certainly isn’t an established playwright. She hasn’t been on Broadway, or had her work produced on HBO. She sings in a band. Read her blog; she’s having trouble paying for the ordinary expenses of life." Ummm, what?? If the only mark of an established playwright is having work performed on Broadway or WRITING FOR AN HBO SERIES then I think we are all a little in trouble. I think that’s what you meant Tim, rather than having an ANGELS IN AMERICA or PROOF like HBO movie made of a play? Which is just, well, rare. And don’t get me wrong–I am not lashing out here (shut up Shirley, just shut up now). Because I love DCTheatreReviews–we all do. You guys have done great things for this community. But maybe this merits some discussion… Even the most "established" playwrights have to do other things (including writing for television) to make solid amounts of money. That’s nothing new. You know how Salvador Dali made gobs of money? By working in Hollywood and designing ad campaigns. And there’s nothing wrong with that–but did we wait until Dali landed a major movie deal to declare him "arrived"? Do we remember him for his cash cow work now? No, of coure not. Perhaps unfortunately, the melting clocks hold credit for that.

By: theatrelvr

theatrelvr — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 12:56:16 +0000

Also, according to Callaghan’s Wikipedia entry, she has been working in the business for ten years and most of her plays have had professional productions. How many years does one have to be emerging before one is considered legit?

(hint: writing for cable dramas does not count as playwriting)

please excuse my typos. thanks.

By: Karen G.

Karen G. — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 12:51:34 +0000

I hardly think having a show on Broadway or having work produced on HBO automatically qualifies one for being an “established playwright”. Adam Rapp is established, but has neither. So do many other accomplished playwrights. There is a grey area between emerging and established, and in that grey area there are artists who have had many aristic successes but are working in an industry with little monetary rewards. Because one does not have health insurance and sings in a bad does not automatically qualify her or she as an emerging artist– in fact, if the artists is able to support herself on her writing alone and does not need a day job with benefits, many would consider that a measure of artistic success.

Thanks for your time.

-kg

By: Tim Treanor

Tim Treanor — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:22:53 +0000

I’m sorry, Karen G., I can’t see anything wrong in calling Callaghan an emerging playwright. That’s what she is. She certainly isn’t an established playwright. She hasn’t been on Broadway, or had her work produced on HBO. She sings in a band. Read her blog; she’s having trouble paying for the ordinary expenses of life. These are not the characteristics of an established playwright. Since she is not an established playwright, she is either an emerging playwright or a lawyer (for example) who writes plays at night. That she is emerging — that her plays are being produced in venues outside of where she lives and where she went to school — is a sign of great and unusual promise. In any event, we need to call things by their real names in order to communicate sensibly with each other.

By: Karen G.

Karen G. — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 17:24:03 +0000

PLEASE stop using the term “emerging” to define writers. It is condescending, and belittles the prior accomplishments of the writer.

Thank you.