Steven Gomez Dives into the “World Class Theatre” Fray

In my essay “World Class = Fighting Words” I argued that it is not necessary to specifically define what a World Class Theatre Town is in order to become one.

We not only do not need to lock down what “world class” means, it would be unwise for any single one of us to try to do so. . . .  All the extremely smart Seattleites. . .  who demand something perfectly specific and quantifiable are, to my mind, like a group of outraged soda lovers storming Coca-Cola headquarters demanding: “What do you mean, ‘Coke is it?’  What the hell does ‘it’ mean?  You say you’d ‘like to buy the world a coke’?  You can’t be serious?  Do you know how much that would cost?”

Admittedly, my dismissal of an absolute definition has never sat well with my fellows.  Like a gifted sullen twenty-something, still living in its parents' basement, Seattle likes precision in its arguments, even when it knows it has no intention of ever acting on them.  We are, after all, a town of lawyer/coder/poet geeks.  We scored above average on our SAT’s and we palpably understand, goddammit, the difference between “Modern”, “Modernist”, and “Post-Modern.”  We should be able to put a fully logical box around any concept, including “World Class Theatre.”

Because I continue to refuse to explicitly define “world class”, many feel free to ignore the goal as so much “sky pie”.  But not Steven Gomez.  Over at his blog, The Russians Used a Pencil, he has zigged away from the standard lackadaisical zag, and actually defined what world class would mean to his mind. 

A World Class Theatre City does not import plays and actors for production. It predominately exports plays and renowned performers, while focusing on producing original, culturally striking work predominately from its community, rather than works from outside communities it perceives as supreme. A World Class city does not look up to other cities.

You can see Steven Gomez’s full entry by clicking here.  Give it a read and leave him a comment.  Explain to him how you think he’s distressingly mistaken or inspiringly correct.  Bookmark him.  Bless him.  He’s joined the fray.  And you?

Comments

[Brandon J. Simmons]

Does "World-Class Theater Town" mean "we get attention from other important cities for the important work we are doing and how we are generally bad-asses"? I'm definitely interested in new work and local talent, but the term "world class" implies to me a kind of outward praise that is ultimately unfulfilling.

[Paul Mullin]

For me "World Class" is short hand for something ineffable. You could call it, if you wanted to: "we get attention from other important cities for the important work we are doing and how we are generally bad-asses", but that's a bit of a mouthful for me.

As show people, who produce work for a live audience, we cannot eschew "outward praise" as easily or as haughtily as, say, poets, painters or novelists can.

Without outward praise, we're just... well poets or novelists.

(And thank ye kindly, Brandon, for moving the discussion over here from the ever unreliable archivist Face Book.)

[Darian]

I'm tempted to agree with the first sentence of that posit: "A World Class Theatre City does not import plays and actors for production." But then, there are plenty of small towns that don't import either, they just also don't do theatre.