As I See It: The Summerworks Video Debate

It's taken me a while (as it always seems to these days--let's call it "Running on Montreal Time") to respond to Michael Rubenfeld's Summerworks promo video featuring a collection of nightie-clad female Toronto playwrights chatting about their relative hotness and pillow-fighting. Some people think it's funny. Some people think it's stupid. Some people think it's sexist. Personally, I thought it was both funny and pretty fucking smart. I first saw the piece when Michael sent it to me a few weeks ago and I laughed my ass off. I've been a bit surprised at the response it's generated, the vitriol spewed back and forth on message boards, and the coverage it's received--not just on the Canadian theatre blog scene but internationally. I thought the piece was funny, yes, but deserving of all this dialogue? Hardly.

When it comes to subjective responses context is everything and so I should probably provide some in connection with mine. I know Michael pretty well. I've met all of the women appearing in this piece and I'm familiar with their work. I've worked with some of them and had in-depth conversations with several of them. I also know the Toronto theatre scene pretty well, so I know that they have had not only critical but financially successful plays produced in the city, in Canada, and internationally. They have won Dora awards, been nominated for Governor General's awards, and had their plays published, translated, and taught as part of the curriculums at universities. They are all incredibly talented, intelligent, and successful.

I'm going to preface the next thing I say by presenting a fact about myself that is likely known to some of my readers, but not all. I'm gay. Very gay. So gay, in fact, that when I look at a woman's naked body the only thought that comes into my head is what clothes would look good on it. And from within the context of my extreme homosexuality I will also say that in addition to being talented, intelligent, and successful, they are also all incredibly beautiful. Sorry if anyone finds that statement offensive, but it's the truth.

The reason why I found this piece so funny was precisely because of what I know about this group of women. Part of the humour comes from the fact that the "characters" they are pretending to be are not in fact who they are in reality at all. Much of the dialogue surrounding the piece was been in connection with the character that Hannah is playing. Anyone who has ever spent more than five minutes with Hannah knows that this is not who she is in reality. It's called acting. She did graduate from the National Theatre School of Canada after all.

In her note about the piece on the Summerworks blog I think Hannah perfectly encapsulates the satire of this piece--that for many of the guys who are Artistic Directors of theatres in Canada (and yes, almost all of them are guys) the thought of women writing plays is as cute and humourous as a bunch of girls having a pillow fight. At a time when the majority of the theatres in the country will produce, at most, one play written by a woman in any given season, I think it's unfortunate that almost all of the dialogue about this piece was directed to the actual content of the piece itself, rather than the satire it was trying to put forward. I suppose it could be called unsuccessful for that reason but then again, maybe the rest of us just aren't as smart as this group of beautiful ladies.

If there's one thing that I can fault the producers of the piece for it's not including the names of the participants or a link to a website where their bios can be easily accessed. In the age of web-presence making it easy for someone to find information about you can make or break an artist's career. In addition, for those not familiar with their work, being able to find out more about their careers and how successful they are would add to the humour of the piece.

So... when Michael and the rest of the group decided to shoot this thing what exactly did they think was going to happen? Did they think people would care as much as they do? Did they think there would be this much debate? Did they realize that this tiny little video would bring international attention to the Summerworks Festival? I have a feeling that, if anything, they thought it might bring a wee bit more traffic to the Summerworks website, which judging by the number of people commenting on the piece it certainly has. Michael is a smart guy and I think that he sees a huge potential to connect with audiences who would never have heard of Summerworks via the internet. This piece is just the starting point.

So at the end of the day what can we really say about this video? Is it funny? Maybe. Is it sexist? Possibly. Is it bringing attention to Summerworks it would never have received otherwise? Unquestionably. And, if for that reason alone, is it smart? You bet your beautiful Toronto playwright ass it is.