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Sherman's Bent quite literally rocked the District's small theater world . If a slow evolution can be said to possess turning points, Bent was just such a landmark in the growth of Washington theater. Not only did Bent sport impeccable performances, notably by Steven Dawn and Stephen Mottram, and a script that still reverberated with newness and raw vitality, it also bore the stamp of a strong directorial hand in every phase of conception and production. Under then 25-year-oldjacobsen , Bent set a new standard for Washington theater, removing whole categories of excuses about lack of funds and public indifference, and gave Washington an unassailably well-crafted evening in the theater. Its own theater. jacobsen continued his successful season by directing N. F. Simpson's zany Was He Anyone? for Woolly Mammoth , giving that weak, goodhearted script a bigger, better, wittier production than it probably ever received before. Finally, when independent producer David Dibo came to Washington, thinking to mount a production of The Elephant Man, it was jacobsen who was tapped to direct ... which he did to sell-out crowds. Throughout the season, however, though working constantly and extremely well, and receiving favorable attention from peers and press , the money jacobsen earned through his free-lance directing assignments never approached a livable sum. Nor was it likely to do so in another year, were he to stay here in Washington. Or another two years. Dorothy Neumann, another local director whose recent work has begun to merit serious attention, describes the theater situation here as a "lateral" one. With no chance for a locally produced show to move to Ford's, or to the Eisenhower or Terrace theaters , Neumann feels a continual talent drain is inevitable. No matter how successful a run , nor how inexpensive production costs , a cast and crew cannot make even minimal wages in a theater that seats 51. Or 70. Or 90 . Without the chance to " move up" -to increase visibility, respectability and billability-who can afford to stay? For Neumann, who is committed to staying in Washington and calling it home, the decision was predicated on an acceptance that directing for the theater here will never pay the rent . That decision behind her, he claims, she discovered she could do anything 54
DOSSIER
ouember 1983
john jacobsen directed The Elephant Man to sell-out crowds
in this town. And she has done a good bit , working for several of the local theaters , and producing her own cabaret version of Cabaret at de space [sic] when she couldn ' t interest anyone in backing it. Of course, some things intrinsic to Washington are not so attractive. In a spirit of indifference, unusually brutal even for The Washington Post, the American premier of Elizabeth Diggs' warm, topical play, Close Ties , was prevented from enjoying the extended run it should have had , by edict of the Post's ad department. Directed by Neumann for Pro Femina (now called Horizons Theatre), this tender story of a family grappling with the impact of debilitating age, received excellent reviews and enthusiastic word of mouth , and was probably Neumann 's be t work to date . The Post' s own reviewers loved the play, but the newspaper' advertising department chose not to include the work in its " Guide to The Lively Arts " section (a lifeline to small theater that can' t possibly afford di play ad or television air time). Although there was no he itation about taking the troupe ' payment for inclusion in the guide, the ad people
determined that Pro Femina's reputa· tion for producing collaborative war~ based on personal experience disquahfied it as theater. While doubtlessly comforted to know that the Post in· eluded such philosopher/ad-men on its staff, Neumann and her Close Ties company were denied access to the guide for most of its run, and failed to pick up the momentum that such a successful opening would normallY have generated. There are those producer/directors who simply have dug in their heels, in· vested in a theater, and are staying. Zelda Fichandler did it first with Arena Stage, and Harry Bagdasian with NeW Playwrights' Theater. Then came Bart Whiteman of the Source, joy Zinoman of Studio Theatre, and the newly ar· rived Achim Nowak of the open Studio. Though often thought of in one breath with their respective theaters. most of these young entrepreneurs are-were-directors first. Whiteman£ the two-fisted, whirlwind producer 0 the small theater circuit (the Source now comprises three playing spaces, and sponsors a myriad of perfor· mances and special events about town), displayed a growing directoria} expertise in Source's recent revival o The Glass Menagerie ; Whiteman 's work showed a new and gentle matur· ity coupled with the light touch born of theatrical sureness. Similarly, Zinoman is most well known as principal teacher at her own conservatory. But when she directs. Washington is treated to one of rhe finer visual sensibilities in the business; more than any other director in wwn. Zinoman creates a complete world on her tiny stage, production after production . Open Studio 's Achim Nowak has dug in only one heel here while the other remains in New York, possiblY not altogether by choice . WorkinS with choreographer Wendy Woods~ on new forms of performance, NoW finds himself on the edge of Washing· ton theater . What has found a~ a~j dience in New York and Europe 1S stil new and uspect in Washington. 1 Working within more convenuonal< form , the We t German-born N~"'\ premiered Franz Xaver Kroetz's Mtcht Blood in Wa hington , but was unable to find a permanent home for it here· 1 He brought an intelligent illuminati0' to the dark lumpenvelt this interna· tionally acclaimed new playwrigl~~: and the work wa well received cfl please turn to page 11 8
Not•ember 1983 DOS fER
7
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