Wee Jane on ...

... the Source story. Co-byline with Truscott. Longer (thus with more detail) than the piece I was able to get in the City Paper.

Comments

[heihachi]

I just read it, and came here to post it, but once again, Tboy is way ahead of me. It's like it's his job.

It explains alot of the financial situation. That 'serious investigation' into where the money went sounds ominous...kinda nice to hear somebody from the city say they want the space to stay a performance space, even if it's too late to make that happen.

[Too Old, Too Tired]

"Though Source has had several co-productions in recent years, O'Brien said she considered the theater's final production to be the Amiri Baraka play "Dutchmen," presented in 2002."

Except, of course, it wasn't. In addition to a full-fledged "Washington Theatre Festival" that followed Dutchman, the were at least five post-Dutchman Source productions, including a world premiere of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Dark Matters directed by Joe Banno with Jennifer Deal, and a comedy by Ally Currin. Gee, do you suppose that the fact that the Chairman of the Board wasn't involved or even aware of the programming might be one of the reasons the Source withered away?

[X Source Board]

Is it not peculiar, not to mention unjust, that neither Post obit for The Source deigned to mention the company's founder, long-time artistic director and by any objective assessment the guiding force during the Source's most accalimed and influencial period? That would be Bart Whiteman, who also devised and launched the Source one-act play festival. Indeed an interview would have been appropriate, no? One would think that basic fairness, not to mention good journalism, would require giving credit where credit is due, and credit IS due.
Even more peculiar is that with all the Whiteman Era Source alums out there, many of whom owe the tempestuous impressario quite a bit for giving them an entree into area professional theater, not one has come forth to set the record straight. Does fear of ticking off the critics trump loyalty, gratitude and fairness in
the theater community?

Stupid question, obvious answer.

[???]

What are we supposed to "set the record straight" about? That it isn't Bart's fault that Source has gone belly up?

We appreciate what Bart did for us. We are sorry another theatre is gone and another venue lost. But the fact is that the Source that has now closed is not the Source Bart started. That Source came to an end when Bart stopped being Artistic Director. So appreciating Bart is one thing and the end of Source now is something else.

Bart is legendary, when you get right down to it, despite the fact that he's a real guy who is still alive. But if you are worrieed about his legacy, why don't YOU "set the record straight," whatever that means.

[bartwhiteman]

"Real and alive" checking in here. If Source gets out of this thing - the sale - out of debt and rich, but with nothing to do and nowhere to do it, that would be the ultimate irony of the whole saga. The amounts of money squandered and at play are well beyond what I had to work with. It's embarrassing to witness the waste. The facts are that I place a great deal of value on what Source was. I still talk about it with people. I still draw from my experience then. Its spirit infuses who I am and everything I do. I will not miss what Source has become. I don't really know the peope running it now. I don't know what makes them tick. However, the loss of a performance space that thousands of people sweated over to create, either as artists or audience, that could continue to be a resource to the theatre community is tragic. Source once had three spaces within a block and a half. I can remember standing on 14th Street at twilight and seeing lines outside of all three simultaneously. This was when the prevailing wisdom in D.C. was that people would never come to 14th Street to see theatre. The prevailing wisdom in D.C. - as it so often is - was wrong. I think I know what it took to find and develop that space. I think I also understood the need for it. The fact that someone is willing to spend so much money now and benefit from the fruit of the labors of so many good people who were there when I was there and who pitched in when and how they could should actually be the ulimate seal of approval and success. Folks, we did it. We won. There is no way to thank you all sufficiently. What all of you did then took courage. Heck, it took courage just to drive down to 14th Street and park your car. What is happening now takes nothing but money. I will have more to say on all this later.