Enough With the Self-Pity

The theater I want --

The characters leap off the stage, surprising, delightful, and alive. Surprising.

The theater I see --

The actors convey characters clearly. The characters are written as a consistent collection of ticks and behaviors.

The theater I want --

The characters live in a visually stunning inventive world that transports us to a place similar to but different than our own.

The theater I see --

Nice house they built there. . . The actors stand on stage well and speak their lines forward well.

The theater I want --

Draws together the multiple, complex threads of 21st century society in to an odd but compelling tapestry whose picture becomes more clear the farther away you get from it. Days later, I'm standing in my shower and the characters and images of the play are still bouncing around in my head and my heart, and I finally have a revelation about what all those strange connections truly mean. And feel.

The theater I see --

Says something clearly about some tiny corner of the world.

And, the theater I want --

Tells exciting stories that take place in the world.

The theater I see --

Tells "clever" or "whimisical" or "cute" stories where everyone is just discovering their true feeling all the time. Self-discovery rather than actual discovery.

The theater I want --

Believes in itself.

The theater I see --

Presents itself for approval to the audience.

The theater I want --

Creates a world around us.

The theater I see --

Documents a small corner of the world from, metaphorically, a 3rd person perspective instead of a 1st person perspective.

The theater I want --

Cares most of all about HOW people live their lives.

The theater I see --

Cares more about what people SAY about their lives.

The theater I want --

Is brave.

The theater I see --

Is well put together.

The theater I want --

is non-judgmental

The theater I see --

is judgmental.