State of the World and Future of Arts

I wrote this in my notebook a while ago. It's an unattributed quote from a Seattle newspaper.

"As the economy crumbles further under the weight of stacked illusions, we're going to have to keep finding more creative ways to adapt. That might make us more interdependent, more connected to one another. We're going to survive by unsettling one another's lives a little more."

Recently, someone in a position to speak with some authority commented that he wouldn't be surprised if 20% of our midsize to large regional theatres close as a result of the current economic crisis.

I wonder if that's a bad thing.

And I know that in wondering that, I am both (a) biting the hand I'd like to feed me and (b) positioning myself as an uppity youngster shaking her hand at the establishment while saying "we need new forms!" -- a walking cliche.

I don't want to say that cheap theater, POOR theater, is in a position of moral authority to theater with a budget, with unions, where artists get health insurance and people can grab a glass of wine before the show.

But I DO think that it behooves us all to see the current global economic MELTDOWN, and the ensuing fallout in the non-profit world/arts world, as a moment of OPPORTUNITY.

Because we all need each other, now more than ever.
And ours is an inherently communal form.
Which positions us to interrogate, and to SERVE, in a unique way.

We can bemoan the crumbling finances at our large institutions, or we can figure out how this moment is an opportunity to reimagine what we do, what we need to do what we do, where we do it, for whom we do it, and why.

It's a transition.
Exciting.