Mean what you say

I just read an essay over at Minnesota Playlist by John Middleton. I've never seen this guy perform, but people claim he's comic genius. I can tell from his writing that it's true. I can also tell there's a lot of heart and earnest love of theatre. I've read other essays by him and they have been inspired and hilarious. Here's a sample of the wise words:

So what I want from art has become very simple: I want you to mean what you say.

I don't care what it is—Shakespeare at the Guthrie, punk-comedy at Bryant Lake Bowl, musicals, political sketches, puppet fairy tales, Kabuki-stomp-happenings—anything you want to do, I want you to do it. But I want you to mean it.

It's easier, I suppose, to not mean it. Did you see Macbeth at the Guthrie earlier this year? A lot of smart, talented people put a lot of effort into…nothing. With a few exceptions (Barbara Bryne, Kris Nelson) the actors spent three hours doing lots of vigorous, but meaningless...nothing. They didn't need Shakespeare's words. They could have used the iPad User Guide as their text, and the performance would have been exactly the same.

Growl, growl, growl. Weepy, weep-weep. Stare distractedly. Your turn.

Three-plus hours full of sound and fury, signifying…awful. There is more drama, suspense, and humor in Sarah Palin's Twitter feed.

How does this happen? I can only guess, of course, but I'm pretty sure that for whatever reason Macbeth was chosen, it wasn't because someone couldn't wait to tell that story.

Read the full essay, here.