I have a new blog post up at the Guardian this morning about Neil LaBute and his supposed split with MCC Theater. Read it here. Playgoer speculates about the matter, which came to light on Tuesday after David Ng's blog post for the L.A. Times broke the news. I take the opportunity (and the lack of ready news or gossip) to muse on a little-discussed problem in the nonprofit world: indiscriminate green-lighting of established writers by their informal home theaters. Teaser:
But the nearly exclusive arrangement LaBute enjoyed with MCC speaks more to safety and expediency than any sort of meaningful artistic union. MCC produces American and British plays with no clear aesthetic common denominator. But why LaBute? Could it be he needs a home for the dark, "gotcha" plays he relentlessly cranks out; and MCC needs the star wattage the film director brings?
RTWT here.