Michael Ritchie, the artistic director of Center Theatre Group, has brought exciting theater programming, but why hasn't he made Los Angeles a greater player in the national conversation?
More inexplicably, many of the playwrights shaking up the American theater don’t seem to be on Ritchie’s radar. And for those who are, the invitations are frequently late and not for their best work. Annie Baker, a leading figure in this new generation of dramatists, will finally be having her Taper debut in the spring, but not for her Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Flick” but for “The Antipodes,” a transitional play that is not an ideal introduction to this path-breaking talent.
There are counter examples demonstrating Ritchie’s readiness to get in the game early, such as Tracy Letts’ This fall, the only production at the Douglas is Bill Irwin’s “On Beckett,” which came from New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre. Money is no doubt an underlying issue for CTG’s fond step-child. But then why not bring in someone who would be inspired to infuse life into the programming, build the audience and share in the fundraising labor needed to pay for it all?
CTG should be part of the national playwriting conversation as both incubator and coveted showcase of original writing. Developing new plays is time-intensive, expensive and dependent on dramaturgical know-how. The latest Taper, a set of one-acts by Ethan Coen inaptly titled “A Play Is a Poem,” once again had me wondering: Who beyond Ritchie is minding the literary store?
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