Going the way of the Poet

A recent Theater Development Fund study, Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play, found that theater in general and new plays in particular are in a long, relentless decline toward cultural oblivion.

The Playwright is going the way of the Poet, laboring for love, taking pride in token rewards, competing with the dead, and serving a shrinking, increasingly uniform audience.

People who work in industries facing oblivion often see the ax only as it falls. The only people surprised by the speed and scope of the newspaper industry slaughter were the people who worked for newspapers.

If you work in the theater, for love or profit, consider the ax.