During the recent glorious days of Indian Summer, President and Mrs. Clinton hosted two days of celebration honoring 18 recipients of the National Medal of Arts and the Charles Frankel Prize in the Humanities. The ceremony on the White House lawn, the evening reception which followed, and the lunch the next day at which Jane Alexander was sworn in as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, were galvanizing events. Isaac Stern, speaking at the reception, remarked on how the celebration served as a welcome home to the nation’s artists who had felt increasingly shunned and avoided in recent years. “We are feeling respected and welcomed,” he said.
Most encouraging–and repeated several times were statements by the President and First Lady attesting to the importance and centrality of the arts to the well-being of the country. There was little evidence of a speech writer’s rhetoric–both gave touching examples of the impact and influence of the arts and humanities on their own lives. I want to quote from what President Clinton said at the awards presentation:
Throughout history, the arts and humanities have been the cultural signature of this great nation. They have enabled Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life to gain a deeper appreciation of who they are as individuals and who we all are as a society, stirring our minds and our senses, stimulating learning and collective discourse. The arts and humanities teach us in ways that nothing else can about the vastness and the depths of human experience. They are our great equalizers. We inherit them, and we can all participate in them.
At a time when our society faces new and profound challenges, at a time when we are losing so many of our children, at a time when so many of our people feel insecure in the face of change, the arts and humanities must remain a vital part of our lives–as individuals and as a nation.
For 200 years, the freedom of our artistic and intellectual imagination has contributed to the quality of our civic life. It has helped to shape American ideas of democracy, of pluralism, of tolerance.
The human imagination is still the most powerful tool we have in moving forward as a civilization. You provoke our minds, you enliven our senses, endow our souls, help us to give our lives meaning. That is why public support for the arts and humanities remains essential today and for generations to come.
President Clinton’s commitment has been underscored by the appointments of two distinguished and outstanding professionals to head the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Jane Alexander and Sheldon Hackney share a vision for the Arts and Humanities Endowments that has been absent too long. Already, much discussion has taken place on how the two agencies can work more closely with each other, and how they can complement and support each other’s work.
The counterpoint to the good news emanating from Washington was alarming news from New York. In late October, Brian Friel’s eagerly anticipated new play Wonderful Tennessee closed on Broadway after only nine performances. While the reviews were mixed, the critics acknowledged the unique talents of Friel as a poet/playwright, and all praised the skill of the Irish actors from the Abbey Theatre, as well as the direction and design. Here, demonstrably, was a rich and seamless production of a play by a major English-speaking playwright. Wonderful Tennessee may not have had the broad appeal of Friel’s immensely popular Dancing at Lughnasa, but it clearly was an event of importance on Broadway.
Did the very quick demise demonstrate–again–the inability of a serious dramatic play without sex or stars to flourish in the commercial arena of Broadway? While the $47.50 ticket price was lower than that of most of Broadway’s “straight plays,” it still represented a big chunk of disposable income for most people. And at these prices, it is virtually impossible to develop a theatregoing habit. At $47, one doesn’t take chances–one needs the assurance of critical acceptance. Thirty-five years ago, the nonprofit theatre came into existence as “an alternative to the commercial theatre.” In 1993, that alternative role has become essential since the commercial theatre increasingly finds difficulty in sustaining anything except that which has huge audience appeal.
The disappointing state of serious dramatic work on Broadway is happily not duplicated on the national scene. Despite the dire economic circumstances of the past two seasons and the consequent scarcity of “research and development” funds, there continues to be a steady stream of challenging work being produced at theatres throughout the country.
The rediscovery of Marivaux–hardly a familiar household name–demonstrates that audiences still hunger for language and imagery in the theatre. From Berkeley to Buffalo, there will be at least seven productions of four plays from the often overlooked French playwright’s 18th-century canon, work heretofore virtually unknown in this country. While New York doesn’t support Friel’s new work, Syracuse Stage and Yale Rep will premiere new works by M. Scott Momaday and Suzan-Lori Parks, and the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles will present a new musical created by Tony Kushner and Mel Marvin.
