Okay, so the other day my parents in-law went to Banff to watch 'Montreal Danse' for a special Valentines day treat... When they arrived home, their faces told the full story. I think their words were "what the h-e-double hockeysticks was that!".
They described a theatre piece where the performers were telling pointless anecdotes to bouts of some bizarre physical Tourrettes Syndrome. The conclusion of the piece saw all the performers standing on some kind of rotating device completely nude. My gosh, I would be shocked if this wasn't something heavily funded by the Canadian tax payer!
Firstly, before I start my tirade, I would like say that as someone who has been on a stage many, many times as the performer, I compliment anyone for stepping on a stage and performing... It takes guts... Having said that, one thing I always took very seriously was my responsibility to actually entertain and offer some kind of value to them, my audience.
I get really annoyed when 'artists' (and I use the word loosely) put together performances that are more about personal therapy than they are about entertaining or offering some kind of comprehensible value to an audience. Often, I find performing and visual arts goers and critics prone to edify public expressions of absolute nonsense! Whenever I have the mis-fortune of sitting through one of these 'presentations' and listening to the analysis of the audience engaged in mental-flail to understand the deeper meaning of the piece, I am reminded of the story of the emperor's new clothes... I think you get where I am going with this...
I grew up around the arts, performed in various locations around the world, and the one thing I learned is that the arts should be pleasing and entertaining if people are paying good money to come and watch. Shakespeare earned his keep by putting up entertaining, clever work rather than self-indulgent drivel... I think artists should remember this point.
Of course, I accept the statement 'who appointed Peter Fuerbringer taste king of the world?' Well, like Simon Cowell, I am quite sure I am stating what the majority of the people in that theatre in Banff were thinking... How do I get my money back!
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