Dealing with Negativity

There is a major virus going around our community.  It destroys art.  You know it just as well as I do, I'm sure.  We deal with it on a daily basis - from our news to our friends to ourselves.  What's it called?  Criticism.

Recently, I became aware of this doppelganger website, whose sole purpose seems to revolve around slamming The Seeing Place Theater.  Through some research, we learned that the website was created last April, has recently been put online, and the creator spent extra money to disguise his/her identity.  The web address is www.theseeingplacetheatre.com, and the site itself seems to pose as our theater, while also commenting on the quality of our work.  They even reword one of our old slogans, "Known for fly-on-the-wall theater."  Screenshots are below.

After the site was online for several months with no revisions, we noticed an update this morning (see below) to reflect the fact that Three Sisters is now closed and offers some explanation as to why our reviews were so good.  (Apparently, we wrote them ourselves.) 

This is not the only instance of public negativity against The Seeing Place.  There is a user named "theatrelov" on TheaterMania, who reviewed Look Back in Anger and Closer and slammed both shows.  Who knows if that person even came to both.  This person literally wrote "the worst piece of theater I've ever seen" on both shows.  On the latest one, it said, "If I could give this zero stars, I would."  Given that their first review stated, "Never again!", one would think that this person wouldn't have wasted the second visit to one of our shows.  Either way, I would not be surprised if this person is connected to the defamatory website. 

Since we've exposed this whole situation, we've now received our first and only bad review for Three Sisters on TheaterMania.  Unlike previous reviews, this one makes sure to point out enough things so that there is no question as to whether or not the person was at Three Sisters - there just isn't a whole lot of substantive information to the review.  It's just a paragraph of negativity...which brings me to my next point...

I've always believed that if people feel the need to tear you down, you've achieved at least some height.  So, in a way, it's exciting that we matter this much to people, and that our work is important enough to receive such attention.  At the same time, theatre needs a much more supportive community.  I can't stand it when people say things like, "That show was terrible.  I was so bored."  About ANY show.  What an uncreative state of mind!  In my opinion, we should, instead, focus on what is working, and what might be done to address what isn't. 

Unfortunately, we learn these kinds of habits from reviewers.  We seem to have gotten away from the idea of reviewers as liaisons to the public, matching the right audience to the right artistic experience.  My favorite review EVER was written by Kenneth Tynan and went something like, "Albert Finney did a wonderful job in the role of the man that Hamlet would have loved to have been."  How wonderful is that?  There's no need for the reviewer to discredit the artist when the disagreement is over interpretation.  Another review said something along the lines of, "If your idea of Falstaff is Fatty Arbuncle mixed with Charlie Chaplin, then you'll love this rendition."  It seems to me that if a review serves to turn people away from the theatre, then it has betrayed its function to support the arts. 

I've never known a person not to give their best when they walk out onto a stage.  Even in my own reactions after shows, I try to keep in mind that these people have just shared a great deal with me in the scariest art form ever - because when people don't like my guitar playing, then maybe they prefer jazz music, but when they don't like my acting, it seems like they don't like me.  The canvas and the painter cannot be so easily separated onstage.

So, when I read these kinds of reviews and see these kinds of websites that seem only to destroy, I try to keep in mind that we have also gotten a great amount of positive response, and that some people feel threatened by things they don't understand.  Any act of destruction comes from a place of insecurity.  And that when you really put yourself out there in your art, not everyone will like it.  The Seeing Place pushes a lot of buttons.  We're not trying to be regurgitated Broadway.  We're trailblazing.  We're trying to do something that isn't attempted very frequently.  We're trying to do something that even The Group Theatre couldn't sustain for very long.  It's a difficult road.

Thanks for reading.  What are your thoughts?

Cast Interview #10: Kathleen Brower as "Natasha" in THREE SISTERS

Welcome to our exciting series of interviews, where you can get to know the cast & creative team in our production of Three Sisters -- an adaptation by Brian Friel of Anton Chekhov's classic story.

Three Sisters runs March 9-25, 2012, Wed-Sat at 7:30pm; Sat & Sun at 2pm in New York City.

For tickets, please click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

Your Name:

Kathleen (Kat) Brower 

Role in this Production:

Natasha

How long have you been acting?

Professionally since I graduated from college at 22 from Marymount Manhattan College, but I started out in a production of Oliver for my grade school when I was 6. It was a very small role as one of the Oompah-Pah dancers, but I was hooked and forced the neighborhood children to be in various productions in my backyard thereafter. 

How long have you been in NYC?

This last stint started in 2009, but I have been crisscrossing between coasts since I was 13. When I decided I wanted to focus on Theatre, New York became the obvious choice. I was living in San Francisco at the time. 

Where are you from originally?

Originally I am from Hurley, NY, about two hours north of NYC. I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area through my high school years, and my parents still live there, so I feel like I am from both places. 

What's been your favorite role, to date?

It’s a tossup between Shelly in Buried Child at North Coast Rep (2003) and Hypatia in Misalliance at The Pear (2005). I gravitate toward plays with strong, outspoken, articulate women. 

If you could play any role in any play right now, what would it be?

Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. 

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?

This isn’t the story of a production; it is an audition story, actually. I was auditioning for the role of Candy Starr in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The director watched my monologue and asked me to make an adjustment – he wanted to see it again, but this time in Polish. I do not speak Polish. So I just sort of winged it, if such a thing is possible, with what little Polish I did know (which mostly consisted of food names) and ended up getting cast. Later the director told me he was just studying my speech pattern to see if I could change it up. I would have preferred it if he had just asked to see another monologue! 

What's your experience with Chekhov?

I studied Chekhov in school and played Irina in a scene study with one of my best friends. He is forever telling me that he has not had his coffee this morning (one of the Baron’s lines from the play). It was one of the most moving acting experiences of my life. I have always wanted to be in a fully staged production of this show, so this is something I can now check off my bucket list. 

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?

I think it is always a challenge to prepare for the role of the outsider, and to allow yourself to be rejected and ostracized for extended periods of time. 

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?

I loved school and I adore dramaturgy, so everything that I have learned as a result of this process about Russian culture and the early part of the 20th century has been a treat! 

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?

This is difficult to admit, but I have a fascination with many subjects that I didn’t study in school and as a result am constantly mispronouncing words and names. I can relate to Natasha’s burden of the self-taught. 

What excites you about THREE SISTERS?

Someone explained to me the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi recently, which I understand as the idea that something is beautiful because it is flawed. Natasha, and all of the other characters for that matter, has a flaw that makes their story poignant and relatable for an audience, and, in their way, beautiful. I am excited to share that with an audience and to hopefully help them to see things from the perspective of someone that they wouldn’t necessarily like or associate with in their real lives. 

To learn more about Kat, visit her website at www.kathleenbrower.com.