Malcolm Gladwell didn’t know it, but in his latest article in The New Yorker (“Annals of Innovation: How David Beats Goliath”, May 11) he was talking about theatre. At first I took his article to be a standard “it’s not talent, it’s effort” pep talk. I agree with that philosophy—I think sustained effort and focus are much more important than any innate talent or ability. The smartest people didn’t always start out that way. They kept at it, kept learning, and kept growing. It’s the same thing with talent—more rehearsal equals better performance.

But the piece really got interesting to me when Gladwell gave a second step beyond just effort to ensuring success when the odds are stacked against you. According to Gladwell, part of the reasons insurgents can be so successful in warfare is that they have no problems doing what is “socially horrifying.” They can do things that the establishment wouldn’t even dream of doing—couldn’t dream of doing, in fact, because they are the establishment.

 It may be uncouth to insinuate that regional theatres have a “powerbase” and are therefore unable to adapt to changing times and that fringe artists and organizations are the ones who will point the way to the next phase of American theatre. so I’ll say something scarier: at this point, all theatres are fringe theatres. We live in a society that doesn’t place a high value on art, and the way we used to do things has been swept out from under us. If we wish to keep doing this, we have to start acting like insurgents: applying maximum effort, and a willingness to contemplate “socially horrifying” ideas.

 Now, luckily for us, we work in theatre, and a socially horrifying idea may actually only mean allowing drinks into the theatre, or working with Equity to allow some videotaping for a YouTube clip that doesn’t cost as much as money as a TV ad, but still gets eyeballs. Whatever it takes, let’s get going.

---

< Prev Article		Next Article >