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Best of this Week's Theatre Blogs - 11 Dec 2009

This week proved that the power of an offhand tweet should not be underestimated. Parabasis tweeted a rather troubling statistic that suggested that in a new survey of American playwriting 9 out of 10 playwrights were graduates of just seven University programmes.  Though Parabasis later clarified his statement the debate hand already begun.  

At The Hub Review the reaction wasn't so much one of shock as of resignation, with the question being raised as to the impact this may be having on playwrights who aren’t part of the University system. David Dower, however, stepped in to quote the actual report proving it to be rather less shocking than the fuss it had generated.

For Matthew Freeman, however, the statistics were neither shocking nor particularly revealing as he questioned how much a report could show about theatre.

Diversity was also an issue in Australia as Alison Croggon took part in a Forum on Women in Theatre and subsequently considered her thoughts on the subject - and what action should be taken.

Finally, there was job diversity of a slightly different kind as on the Stan’s Café Blog as a night running a Box Office proved a little bit more complicated than expected…

The Hub Review - The shocking statistic that shocks no one.
“And would we be getting more productions of our best playwrights (few of whom have MFAs) without this farm system, and the production slots it claims? Probably yes.”

New Play Blog, David Dower - That Troublesome MFA Stat from the Diversity #newplay Convening
“It's sure to become the new battleground over the state of the new play ecosystem, and the findings are certainly going to inform the work of Arena's New Play Institute as we attempt to advance the infrastructure for new works nationwide.”

On Theatre and Politics, Matthew Freeman - From the “Well! Knock me over with a feather” department
“Quality can't be surveyed. One person's academic navel gazing is another person's compelling theatrical experiment.”

Theatre Notes, Alison Croggon - Gender and all that: where are the magic bullets?
“This kind of solution is in fact one of the major complaints about the funding processes of the Arts Council in Britain: the focus moves away from making great art to social engineering.”

Stan’s Café Blog, James - Box-Office Novice
“People came in bursts, I ended up chatting. People paid in advance for people who arrived later. Rapidly I lost a grip on the numbers…”

- by Corinne Furness - Theatregoer Reporter

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