Bill Richardson.

CNN.com had this article up today.

Reading it, I was struck by its similarities with my last post about black directors and August Wilson.  Then I realized…they’re not remotely the same thing.

Navarrette is arguing that the failure of the Obama administration to hire this one specific person (Richardson) for this one particular job (Secretary of State) is a slap in the face to Latinos everywhere, one that will cost Obama the Latino vote in 2012.   My argument earlier was that hiring one specific person (Bartlett Sher) for one specific job (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone) could be seen as a slap in the face to African-American directors.   Similar, right?

Here’s where I see the difference in arguments: I’m talking about cumulative impact.  He’s talking about all or nothing.  If Richardson doesn’t get the gig (which he didn’t), all Latinos are offended.  I’m saying that if a black director doesn’t get the gig, there’s still room to make it right with other gigs.  It’s a question of absolutes.

And the bigger issue, of course, is that August Wilson plays are plays that are often directed by black directors.  There’s not only a precedent there, there’s a reason to believe that a director’s race could play a role in his/her qualifications for the job.  Not so with SOS.  It would be great to have Richardson in the position, and he’s certainly qualified (and maybe moreso than Clinton), but you don’t get the feeling that a job was taken away from a Latino and given to a white person there.

Man, I feel almost like a union rep with that argument.

White Director, Black Play.

I was going to post this Playbill article a few days ago and attempt to start a discussion about the politics of a white man directing an August Wilson play on Broadway.

The Pioneer Press did it for me.  And they did it better, because they were able to get some actual quotes from real live theater folks:

“If this meant that everything was fair game —- if it meant that Marion (McClinton) would get to direct ‘Cherry Orchard’ at the Guthrie, that would be one thing,” [actor James Williams] said. “But that’s not what this means. This is another way of saying that the dominant culture knows more about us than we know about ourselves.”

Personally, I don’t think the question is whether or not Bartlett Sher can direct the play.  He’s a talented director, and he’ll do his homework, and they’ll have top-notch actors.  It should be pretty good, and it should be worth seeing.  The issue, of course, is access — if Lincoln Center won’t hire a black director to direct an August Wilson play, what will they hire a black director to do?  I get that Sher is the resident director, he’s on staff, he’s done big things for them before, and I get (and kind of think it’s great) that he’d want to direct a Great American Play to follow up his Great American Musical (South Pacific) — and it’s wonderful that Wilson’s work is considered to fill that role.  But if the door doesn’t open for directors here, where does it open?

This all connects to another issue that I’ve avoided here, but I’ll bring up now: the first production by Lincoln Center’s new developmental arm (LCT3) was a hip-hop play — which is great.  I’m all for hip-hop theater busting through to the big time.  There are too many of us who have been banging away at this for almost a decade now to continue to be shut out of big-time houses.  But it wasn’t Eisa Davis,  or Full Circle, Bamuthi, or well, me: it was Matt Sax.  Who happens to be white.

Now look.  Many of the really exciting hip-hop theater artists out there are white (Baba Israel and, of course, Danny Hoch come straight to mind).  And I’m only passingly familiar with Clay — I wasn’t able to get over and check it out.  I’m not saying that it’s not a worthy play — it very well could be.  I have no beef with Matt Sax.  He’s a young artist working with hip-hop — it’s a good thing for his work to get done.

But.

This is hip-hop theater’s “big break?”  And it’s not someone who has been part of the genre’s rise?  And it’s not a person of color?  LCT doesn’t have season “slots” really, but if we can’t get in with this slot, where do we get in?

That’s a bit of a digression, but it’s speaking to the same idea.  The issue is access.  If white folk want to direct August Wilson, that’s great.  If white folks want to do hip-hop theater, that’s great.  But there are tons of very talented directors (and writers and actors and…) of color who should be getting the chance to do Shakespeare or kitchen sink relationship shows or Tom Stoppard (and women doing plays by men, and…) — it’s got to go both ways.

The Public Theater’s 08-09 Season

The Public just announced their 08-09 season.

For me, the big news is (unsurprisingly) that Danny Hoch’s Taking Over is going to have its New York premiere, finally. For those who don’t know, Danny is one of the fathers of hip-hop theater, and his solo work is one of my major inspirations as an artist. And he’s a good man, and a heck of a cook. I absolutely cannot wait to see this show.

There are some huge names in this season: Guare, Sondheim, Wolfe, Sher, Glass, Akalaitas, Durang. Am I disappointed to see no new names, no Latinos, no Asians, two African-Americans, and only two women represented? Of course. Do I think it’s a defendable season? Probably–these names are likely to sell tickets, and The Public needs to be responsible on that front. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that smaller projects (Under the Radar, the LAB, the various readings) as well as the creative casting that the Public does so well will flesh some color back into the place.

Still, it’s very, very interesting to see a season like this, especially when NYTW is condensing their output. Who is going to be doing new playwrights and new playwrights of color especially?

If not The Public, then who?