| From the perspective of one of the working (and starving) theatre artists of this city, the sense of outrage from our artistic administrators is heartwarming, but our problems are much larger than the Klein government's lack of vision. I am dumbfounded by our own self-esteem issues. Why are many of our artistic leaders compelled to look outside the city and province for artists to work on important pieces? Why are we continually being led to believe that our talent is not world-class or even of a national level? Why is it that being a local director, actor or designer is somehow less of a director, actor or designer? Why are we not developing more of our own?
How can we expect our public to be educated in visionary artistic expression if we have no choice but to cater to the lowest common denominator of entertainment rather than art? It is a vicious circle and the healing must begin with us, as a community. How can we expect our government to support us when our community barely supports itself? Where is the mirror for this truth?
I believe our artistic leaders should be bending over backwards to find ways to showcase our talents in significant ways on an ongoing basis. I realize there are theatre groups who do hire from within our community, and some that would say that they "try." Quebec has built a culture based on a strong sense of who they are. How many western artists are hired to work on Quebec pieces, or even Toronto pieces, for that matter?
We don't really know who we are and I don't think many of our artistic leaders are looking that hard. We need to let our artists speak loudly and frequently on this matter, and the public must be educated as to why it is so important to listen. In the end, isn't it for the communication of thought and vision that any of us work in this field? We do it for the public, but we can't be dictated to, as artists, by the public in how to express ourselves. This is what needs to be changed in order to build a strong culture and prompt a government to truly acknowledge an enlightened vision, fed by a supportive population. It may be the chicken-or-the-egg syndrome, but we could argue about that forever. Why don't we just get organized and do something about it?
I am, as we all should be, very proud of our artists in Calgary. The depth and diversity is incredible. We need to produce more of our own work! Yes, you could say that will cost money we don't have, but who really needs to see another Guys and Dolls with a cast from Toronto?
What do you have to say about this Martin Morrow?
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