“Do something fresh, Richard, for God’s sake!” — Lorraine Hansberry, an atheist, to the author in the early sixties… when he was a young instructor of Dramatic Art
Let’s have a new kind of dramatic fare.
The food served on stage these days is not very palatable for the people in my quarters, bogged down as they are with concern over our collective crises. The distractions with music — no matter how catchy the tunes and memorable the dance steps — are steeped in quietism. And protest plays inevitably fail with their generic outbursts… banging audiences over the head with what’s obvious.
I curse the content and recoil at the forms in vogue.
This rogue playwright intends to meet with the local powers that be in Dramatic Art in a couple of days, though, and try to cut through the morass and secure a pass for putting on something that will out-Brecht Brecht.
I will mount my first production on a zero budget to emphasize that no one needs any money to deal with our horrid societal and environmental momentum Thereby underscoring the fact that it’s miracles which we need, energy and events which don’t cost a dime, but — rather — bold time invested in actions which follow an intrepid and fresh paradigm.
What we need is dramatic lime to treat the societal and environmental sludge that’s sliding through our lives and forcing us over the precipice, precluding even the enjoyment of entertainment which is worthy of our heartbeats.
With a message and movement which doesn’t have to rhyme.
Richard Martin Oxman, who has no interest in being in the limelight, can be reached day or night at [email protected]. He intends to create the sort of entertainment above with local youngsters and their loved ones, and will be glad to share the fruits of collective labors, upon request.