tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post6213377722666375970..comments2024-03-29T03:39:42.411-04:00Comments on The Wicked Stage: No History?Rob Weinert-Kendthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-41827917449155700202010-01-12T17:08:28.300-05:002010-01-12T17:08:28.300-05:00I've begun culling data from issue of October ...I've begun culling data from issue of October 2000; it's slow going. At this rate, and given my workload in the next few weeks, I should be done by some time in February...unless someone wants to pitch in.Rob Weinert-Kendthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-74240559989426474702010-01-12T15:26:48.024-05:002010-01-12T15:26:48.024-05:00Most-produced plays isn't a bad metric. It'...Most-produced plays isn't a bad metric. It's a good metric. However, using only Top 10 lists from each year is an erroneous way to determine what plays had the most productions over that 10 year period.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07030787796014030055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-57265496580359604262010-01-12T14:45:35.411-05:002010-01-12T14:45:35.411-05:00Obviously, we'll have a fuller picture if we u...Obviously, we'll have a fuller picture if we use more than one metric, because we can tease out seeming contradictions and thus develop richer interpretations of what might actually be happening.<br /><br />As far as the methodology of presenting a top-10 (or top-11, since there was a tie) and basing one's conclusions on that, that's not so much a bad method as it is a phenomenon of human being' obsession with the number 10. Maybe we need to extend it to top-100 along with top-100 most produced playwrights.<br /><br />I'm not seeing the argument that "most-produced-plays" is a bad metric though, just an argument that it is not the only salient metric.Ian Thalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348768867561450314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-63739409602595802292010-01-12T14:22:46.416-05:002010-01-12T14:22:46.416-05:00The problem with Terry's method, as he acknowl...The problem with Terry's method, as he acknowledges, is that if a play is number 11 or lower on the list for a given year, it's not represented in his analysis. Plays like Streetcar, Our Town, The Crucible, etc. are obviously performed frequently in regional theaters over a 10 year period, but do not make the top 10 in an individual year.<br /><br />I think surveying playwrights rather than plays is interesting and can provide a more complete picture, but I think that makes critics of Terry's methodology look like they're trying to change the deal. And they don't need to -- the entire results from each TCG survey year just need to be procured and included, as opposed to just the Top 10. That way, if a play like Tartuffe receives many productions over a 10-year period, but not enough to crack the Top 10 in an individual year, it will be weighted appropriately in a ten-year aggregate rather than just not appearing at all.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07030787796014030055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-65259732825423325062010-01-11T21:11:17.423-05:002010-01-11T21:11:17.423-05:00Are you arguing that there's an actual flaw in...Are you arguing that there's an actual flaw in Teachout's data or statistics (and thus his conclusion) or are you making a separate argument that most-produced-playwright is a better metric than the metric of most-produced-plays, that Teachout is using?<br /><br />What are the relative pros and cons of the two metrics? What do we conclude if they support similar conclusions? Different conclusions?Ian Thalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348768867561450314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-22179640501347922822010-01-11T17:45:07.671-05:002010-01-11T17:45:07.671-05:00Just as an update.
I have only gone through a sma...Just as an update.<br /><br />I have only gone through a small number of theaters, but Chekhov, one of the names on Terry's list, seems to dominate the last decade. He is approaching a dozen productions. <br /><br />Nobody else is even close. I'll keep you updated.Arthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04845394320537913576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-27521770238533418232010-01-11T14:57:25.748-05:002010-01-11T14:57:25.748-05:00I should add that I agree that Rob's original ...I should add that I agree that Rob's original point was well taken--I had to work with the data available to me, but I knew that they might provide a deceptive picture for the reasons he states. They were, however, much better than nothing, and I'd already gotten a similar impression from spending the past few years keeping a fairly close eye on the seasons of major and second-tier regional companies throughout the country. I'm absolutely prepared to change my tune, though, should the facts warrant it!Terry Teachouthttp://www.terryteachout.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-48109119940497258212010-01-11T14:52:04.195-05:002010-01-11T14:52:04.195-05:00By all means, calculate it for Boston. That will b...By all means, calculate it for Boston. That will be one city down, a hundred other cities to go.Rob Weinert-Kendthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-81606690384709249562010-01-11T14:45:42.582-05:002010-01-11T14:45:42.582-05:00Hear, hear, Art. And thank you, Terry, for bringi...Hear, hear, Art. And thank you, Terry, for bringing some data to light that backs up a perception that I've been talking about in the Hub Review for years.Thomas Garveynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-89336353990855462812010-01-11T14:30:46.443-05:002010-01-11T14:30:46.443-05:00I have to say, Rob, just to warn you, on my lunch ...I have to say, Rob, just to warn you, on my lunch hour, just out of curiosity, I started to go through the seasons of our companies here in Boston for at least the past few years... <br /><br />In very short order it became overwhelmingly clear that Terry's data appears to bear out. Newer work dominates the last decade.<br /><br />While your point is well taken, it doesn't appear, at least on what I see for Boston, to be enough to offset Terry's argument. The names he lists are very rare birds on our landscape in comparison to newer works.<br /><br />As a side note: There are immediately things I run into that can throw things off though.<br /><br />For instance, the ART had something of a Mamet festival last year, so suddenly you have 5 Mamet plays interjected into the data. <br /><br />I started compiling the data in a spreadsheet, and I'll continue to do so. I'll let you know what I find, at least for Boston.Arthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04845394320537913576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-87368806895232851202010-01-11T14:20:05.777-05:002010-01-11T14:20:05.777-05:00Sorry to make you burn all that oil, but I'm r...Sorry to make you burn all that oil, but I'm really interested in the outcome. In a perfect world, what I'd like to know is this: what percentage of the most frequently produced <i>playwrights</i> of the past decade have done most of their significant work since 1990? And how does that stack up against the percentage of the most frequently produced <i>plays</i> of the past decade that were written after 1990? I think that's a pretty fair basis for comparison, don't you?Terry Teachouthttp://www.terryteachout.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-41065114974050631612010-01-11T13:54:33.156-05:002010-01-11T13:54:33.156-05:00The data are not as easy to mine as I'd though...The data are not as easy to mine as I'd thought. The self-reported season schedules of TCG member theaters are printed in each October issue, and we have most of those only in hard-copy form. Sounds like a few nights of midnight oil. I guess that's what I get for laying down the gauntlet...Rob Weinert-Kendthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-32097451232817584132010-01-11T13:42:43.739-05:002010-01-11T13:42:43.739-05:00O.K., I'm game: who's got the numbers for ...O.K., I'm game: who's got the numbers for playwrights as opposed to plays? Of course there will be <i>more</i> revivals if you measure by playwrights--that stands to reason--but I follow the calendars of a couple of hundred regional companies each season, and this experience suggests to me that the two sets of findings won't be nearly as different as you expect them to be.Terry Teachouthttp://www.terryteachout.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-17633468135838083142010-01-11T13:02:11.401-05:002010-01-11T13:02:11.401-05:00Thanks, Rob. You saved me a whole bunch of work.Thanks, Rob. You saved me a whole bunch of work.99https://www.blogger.com/profile/11955916620902994495noreply@blogger.com