Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Vote for Comment of the Week

Here are this week's contenders:

Student #1 has left a new comment on your post "NFL Players Association Freaks Out About Tattoo Co...":

As a person with tattoos, and huge sports fan - I find this topic to be both fascinating and incredibly infuriating. Pirating music and other digital media, reproducing printed materials and artwork without a license all seem like logical copyright infringements, but never would I have expected tattoos to be brought into the mix. Tattooing - yes, is a valid art form, however it's also a service that you pay for. In addition to that, the artwork isn't always the intellectual property of the artist performing the tattoo, often the client provides the artwork or concept for the tattoo and requests a service from the artist. Sooo....if Colin Kaepernick presented the artwork to his tattoo artist, then isn't he the owner of those images and doesn't he have the right to determine if they are part of his brand and included in renderings of him on video games? And even if the tattoo artist took some artistic liberty in order to improve or develop on Kaepernick's concept for his tattoos...Kaepernick still paid a for the services of the artist. So where is line drawn? It think it's be interesting to see have this issue pursued in a court of law - but the idea that my tattoo artist could take me to court for royalties to my tattoos if they were part of brand and attributed to my income after I paid him hundreds of dollars for their creation is a little unnerving. 
Student #2 has left a new comment on your post "(Re)Search: Dramaturgical Catharsis":
This is the second blog post of Bree's that I have read; I appreciate her approach to the work of dramaturgy. There are many people in the theatre community who are confused about the importance of dramaturgs and could benefit greatly from reading Bree's blog. I have been fortunate enough to have been involved in a few rehearsal processes in which the dramaturg was present in rehearsal and was an invaluable resource. As Bree describes in this article, there's no doubt that someone who has put that kind of work into the show has made an impact on what the audience sees. It may not be immediately evident to an audience member that someone had to help the actors with pronunciations, teach them about the play's time period, etc. It's certain, though, that some audience members would notice errors in accuracy. (Audiences are smarter than a lot of people give them credit for.)

Anyways, I'd like to touch on the idea of "Analog Sundays". I admire Bree for being able to do this. She mentions sometimes not being able to fully honor the occasion because she has pressing emails about a production she's working on, but I believe that there's nothing on a production that can't wait until Monday. Personally, I wouldn't be able to participate in "Analog Sundays" for other reasons, but emails from people about a production wouldn't stop me. Part of the curse of having email on our phones is that we constantly feel that people are nagging us and needs answers right away, but that often isn't true. Most of the time, it can wait until Monday.
Student #3 has left a new comment on your post "Stagehand Goes Above and Beyond to Help Disabled M...":
The reason that I am in the arts is to make people happy. This article and video make me so proud that the entertainment industry can give so much to this person just to make his experience special. I also like that this practice of giving to this disabled man has been passed on to each person that works for the theater. No matter when they go to the theater they know they will get the access they need and then some.

I worked in house management one summer and I was told by my boss to check tickets but if someone didn't have one or tried to get by without one that I should just let them go because it was more important that they see the show than that the theater got the money. This theater had the luxury not to need the money but it seems to me that they would have had this policy even if they did. I also think that at many other places this sentiment holds true that the individual guests experience is more important than making money or selling merchandize. 
Student #4 has left a new comment on your post "25 Questions That Will Guide You To Find and Follo...":
The man who wrote this article is in his late twenties, making him a little bit older than me, but even at the age of twenty, I feel like I no longer have time to figure out who I want to be. Society pressures us so much into knowing a plan for our life even before we graduate from high school. It's quite frightening and intimidating, but everyone goes through it. In high school I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I loved writing, art, science, and theater, but I knew that I couldn't study everything, If I wanted to be successful at anything. When I applied to college I decided to study architecture, and although I was happy with my choice, after time I realized that was not where my true passion lied. Now that I'm in the school of drama, I feel better than I ever have about what I'm studying and spending my time doing at college. It really is important to pinpoint your passions and follow them , especially when you are still young.
Student #5 has left a new comment on your post "In Small Spaces, Theater-Makers Are Telling Big St...":
I really like this concept of doing multiple plays or performances that can stand alone and yet link together. It allows the audience to enter as deeply as they wish into the play, but without pressure to see all of them if it is not possible. However, the one problem I see with this is the time and monetary commitment it demands of the audience. Seeing one play is generally affordable. It doesn't take too long, and even though tickets are expensive they are generally pretty reasonable. However, seeing multiple performances in a short space of time would be expensive and demands a lot of an audience member's schedule. I would be cautious of alienating people who could only afford one show or one night, and so would think "oh what's the point of going to one of these if I'm going to miss all the rest?"
This is not an inevitable result, but it is possible. Overall I think the concept is great, just that it should continue to be stand-alone performances that can be linked together if desired, but don't demand multiple nights and multiple tickets of audience members. 

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