Haley Selmon

Due: January 9, 2015

In Response to Playwriting and Globalisation

In Dan Rebellatos article for the Contemporary Theatre Review, he tries very
circuitously to delineate the difference between global commodity (2006: 99) and site-specific
performance (2006: 98) in theatre. After warning of the dangers of both, he posits that there is a
median to be found in play-writing. As the play is distinct from the production, the same piece
of theatre can be interpreted in many different ways, making it, in some ways, site-specific
without interfering with the base artistic material: the text. (Rebellato, 2006: 111) Rebellato
argues that, while the form does not always succeed in doing so, Theatre more than any other
art form, has the capability of falling in between the worlds of globalization and local markets. It
can always have one foot out the door, as the same text can yield many different iterations
and interpretations. (Rebellato, 2006: 110)
There are, of course, extreme examples of both ends of the spectrum in his article. He
references the large scale McTheatre musicals, such as Cats, and The Lion King, which are
run more like franchise system[s] than art. (Rebellato, 206: 100) Every production mounted is
to be a carbon copy of the original, no matter the space and the performers involved. He then
uses Richard Serras Tilted Arc, a site specific art installation, to show the opposite. When it was
proposed that Serras work be moved, he argued that it was a site specific work and To
remove the work work is to destroy the work. (Serra in Rebellato, 2006: 103)
It is incorrect that he only uses examples of the completely commercial megamusicals,
when his ideas can absolutely be used to describe many other pieces of the musical theatre
canon. For example, the 2006 revival of Sondheims Company, featured no orchestra other than
the actors on stage. Without changing any of the source material, the company produced an
entirely new show that was specific to them, as there was no replacement cast before it closed
in July, 2007. (PlayBillVault.com, 2015) The same can be said of devised pieces of musical
theatre, such as song cycles and cabaret, that use pre-existing songs to create an new piece of
performance theatre. A cabaret can be moved from space to space, but due to the personal
nature of most cabaret material, each performance will be different depending on the size and
ambience of the space and audience each night.
While he meandered and took his time in getting to the point, Rebellatos ideas on
theatre and globalization are valid. In particular, the idea of play-in-performance being one of
the few art forms that can live comfortably in the space between McTheatre and Serra-type site
specific work. (Rebellato, 2006: 113) Like Rebellato, I believe that it is possible to bridge that
gap between the globalization affecting many of the worlds commodities, and the rigidity and
inaccessibility of completely site specific artistic work. If anything can hope to transcend the
intransigent aspects of the world, it is Art.

Haley Selmon

Due: January 9, 2015

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Bibliography:
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1) Rebellato, D. (2006) Playwriting and Globalisation: Towards a Site-Unspecific Theatre,
Contemporary Theatre Review, Vol. 16, No. 1: 97-113

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2) PlayBill, Company on Broadway, http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/4292/Company

(accessed 05.01.15)