Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1991 - 12

In rhe performing arrs rhese acrions
can be equally swifr and devasraring. Ar
rhe ew England Thearre Conference
Awards Ceremony rhis pasr Ocrober, rwo
of rhe rhearre companies being honored
were disbanded lirerally hours before rhey
received rheir awards. Funding for one
company, The Children's Thearre of
Massachuserrs, was pulled in spire of irs
excellent repurarion and complerion of a
rour rhar reached more rhan 50,000 children and reens during rhe year. The orher
company which was forced ro disband for
lack of funding was The Women in

A crisis challenged can be found in rhe
EA controversy srimulared by rhe reacrions of Jesse Helms and Congress. The
debare over whar is "acceprable arr" was
forced into rhe American consciousness.
The ans communiry was galvanized and
spurred into acrion.
In her keynore address ro rhe USITT
Conference in Milwaukee, Sara
O'Connor reminded us, "We have an
opporruniry ro affecr our own furure." In
rhar insrance she was urging us ro wrire
our Represenrarives in Washingron in
supporr of rhe EA. I am reireraring her
call-we do have rhe opporruniry ro affecr our own furure,
which means rhe glass is half full.
However, rhe specific issues
are nor always as clearly defined
for us as rhey currenrly are in rhe
insrance of supporr for rhe NEA
over funding curs and censorship
of rhe arrs. We have rhe opportunity, bur how do we idenrify
whar issues ro confront?
I rhink if we examine some
of rhe characrerisrics of our profession, we can begin ro idenrifY
some of rhese issues. We are all
engaged in a profession rhar
demands collaborarion. Yer as
arrisrs we musr rely on individual expression of ideas. In order ro bring
somerhing inro being, we musr ger rorally
absorbed in our specializarion.
Then we musr shape rhar concenrrarion ro meld wirh orhers in rhe collaborarive process. In shorr, we musr work
rogerher ro achieve rhe final vision of a
projecr. We srrive ro srrengrhen our own
areas of specializarion, bur we musr also
pur rhese concerns in rhe perspecrive of
orher arrisrs' conrriburions ro rhe whole.
This is a paradox we live and work wirh
on a daily basis. To be sure, rhe rrip is nor
always a smoorh one, bur ir is one we
choose ro rake repearedly.
Our involvemenr wirh USITT is an
exrension of rhar rrip. As an organizarion,
we are beser wirh paradoxes. The very
name is fraughr wirh paradox; we benefir
enormously from rhe acrive parriciparion
of rhe Canadian membership, and yer we
are rhe "Unired Srares Insrirure." We
srress "Thearre and Technology" in rhe
name, bur srrive ro be of service ro rhe
whole of rhe performing arrs profession.
We srrive for rhe acrive parriciparion of
and representarion for designers.
In coming ro grips wirh rhis dichoromy, rhe descripror "Norrh American
Associarion of Design and Producrion
Professionals in rhe Performing Arrs" has
been added ro clarifY our self-conrradicrory name. This solurion is an example of

W have
the opportunity
to affect our own
futures, but how do we
identify what issue
to confront?
Thearre Fesrival of Bosron. The company's work fearured developmenr of new
scriprs on women's issues and enjoyed
excellent audience supporr.
Are rhese funding curs solely rhe
resulr of rhe acrions of Congress and rhe
pressure placed upon rhe NEA or is ir
rhar rhe arrs are always vulnerable in
rimes of financial crises? I am assured by
various individuals rhar rhearre and rhe
performing arrs conrinue ro rhrive in
recessions because of rhe basic universal
need rhey fulfill. Perhaps rhar is rrue.
My in-laws rell of rhe rime in rhe
early 1930s when rhey rook rheir lasr dollar and rhe four kids and wenr ro rhe
movies! The nexr day Pop gor a job. I've
always admired rhe courage represenred
by rheir resolurion of rhe problem.
However, rhis srory does nor rake inro
accounr rhe essenrial belr righrening and
reevaluarion rhar numerous rhearre companies and orher insrirurions are experiencIng.
The economy measures raken in rhe
lasr few monrhs by rhe
ew York
Shakespeare Fesrival include closing irs
scenery and pro perry shops. Mosr recenrly, rhere has been acrion which could lead
ro closing irs cosrume shop as well. These
acrions may well be harbingers of rhe
challenging crises we will be facing in rhe
nexr few years.
10

1991

SPRING

TD&T

one approach ro minimizing rhe paradox,
bur rhe challenge ro bring rhe inrenr closer ro realiry srill remains.
USITT is a nor-for-profir corporarion
wirh a budger of 51 million. We are a
business bur we are nor a business. We are
a sociery of like-minded individuals who
onen disagree abour rhe besr way ro conducr our non-business. We musr manage
our finances in a business-like manner ro
mainrain rhe healrh of rhe organizarion
ro bener service our membership, bur we
shy away from rhe "resrricrions" we associare wirh business procedures.
Our profession relies heavily on rhe
hands that make the crafts, rhose one-of-akind producrs so essenrial ro our arr bur
hardly recognized in an era in which
rechnological solurions are revered and
heavily relied upon. Even before rhe
beginning of rhis cenrury, arrisrs and
crans people have been decrying rhe use
of increased auromarion.
Irene Corey reminded me of a 20year-old carroon I saw in her shop. Ir
showed rwo men surrounded by big
machinery rowering over rhe figure of a
lirrle woman hunched over a sewing
machine. The punch line read: "Everyrhing is auromared now, excepr Mrs.
Belding!" There is no way ro "auromare"
rhe crearive hands and crearive minds
which are ar rhe hearr of our business.
The essenrial "Mrs. Beldings" are srill
rhere and are lucky ro make $8-10 an
hour-no fringe benefirs, of course. On
rhe posirive side, some of us do have windows in our cosrume shops.
Many aspecrs of rhe rechnological
advances have been incorporared inro our
modis operandi. From rhe sewing machine
ro rhe compurer, we have learned ro use
and appreciare rhe new rools, alrhough
somerimes wirh relucrance. I'd hazard a
guess rhar mosr everyone in rhis room
now uses a compurer in some aspecr of
his or her work.
However, while we become more
accusromed ro incorporaring rhese very
useful new rools in our work, ir is viral
rhar we conrinue our advocacy for rhe
hand-crafred requiremenrs of our field.
This means aggressively supporring rhe
needs of rhe cranspersons and shops. The
challenge is ro find rhe means of supporring rhem even as overhead cosr are rising
ro such a level rhar many ralenred individuals are forced our of rhe business and
young ralenrs are choosing orher avenues
of employmenr.
Our jobs exisr, yer rhey do nor. The
federal governmenr does nor recognize
mosr of rhe job caregories in our profession. There is no job descriprion for mosr
of whar we do. Ir means rhar as far as rhe

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1991