There was a very nice piece in the Guardian recently on not making boring theatre, and we all agreed and patted ourselves on the back for agreeing because, hey, who likes boring theatre?

Aside from telling me not to do boring theatre (and to allow my respiratory system to continue on autonomically) what does it accomplish? My boring is not your boring is not Anthony Neilson’s boring.

So I would like to retrench the sentiment slightly, and make it an actionable item. By way of doing so I would like to point out musician Amanda Palmer’s latest blog post. Ms. Palmer, aside from roaming in support of her stunning new album (Who Killed Amanda Palmer), is taking time to return to her high school and work with them in creating a new play.

But read the entry. She can’t get the words out fast enough to contain her excitement.

And that is my simplistic action statement. Match her. There is no way to ‘not make boring theatre’, any more than you can prove a negative. Make theatre that excites you. Make it as well as you can.

Someone may find it boring. Folks may hate it. But you will have fulfilled your larger duty to capital T Theatre. If Neil Simon excites you? DO IT. Do it well. If zombie rock operas excite you? DO IT.

Qui Nguyen is the gold standard for me in this regard. He and the Vampire Cowboys make the show they want to make in a style that excites them. It took time but finally that joy in production won out and Soul Samurai kicked the asses of everyone who came to see it. Despite being what would generically be defined as a niche show.

So, too many words again, but that’s it.

Do theatre that excites you to the best of your ability.

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