I Funded What?

It's no secret that the LME and I support the arts in the Twin Cities. We enjoy going to plays, museums and burlesque shows. That said, I have major issues with the Gutherie; specifically its funding and its selection of shows. I have yet to see a show there because the plays they select to perform generally suck.

I can see from today's article in the Red Star that nothing has changed.

Dowling, who did not reveal the financial terms of the commission, said that if all goes well, Kushner's play, "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures," will premiere on the McGuire Proscenium stage in spring 2009.

Judging by the title, this will not be a play I have any interest in seeing.

Politics and social mores take center stage in Kushner's plays. His nearly four-hour "Homebody/Kabul" lashed U.S. government policies in Afghanistan -- before 9/11. His book and lyrics for the musical "Caroline, or Change" explored civil rights at the time of the Kennedy assassination, through the lens of his Louisiana roots.

Wow! This guy is really bold and original. Here's a brave artist that hates Bush and dwells on civil rights issues from 50 years ago. That takes guts! I can't think of any other artist out there that has that view?

"Angels," his sprawling seven-hour masterpiece, is a fantasia about AIDS, religion and the conservative political movement in the 1980s. The play, made into an HBO miniseries in 2003, won an Emmy. He also has won three Obie Awards and been nominated for an Oscar for the "Munich" screenplay.

Although Kushner could not be reached to talk about the new play, Dowling said his conversations indicated it would be set in Brooklyn and deal with the dynamic of growing up gay in a family situation. An agnostic with admitted socialist leanings, Kushner employed biblical imagery in "Angels," which became a rallying anthem for gays.

I skipped watching Angels because I really didn't give a shit about the views of an Agnostic on the AIDS issue and the Conservative movement. I'm going to take a wild guess and bet that he portrayed in a poor light.

So, we have a theater that soaked the state for about $65 million and now they are excited to be showing the usual, run of the mill bile and invective that every other artist in American spouts each and every day. And they wonder why conservatives don't favor more funding for the arts? Maybe if they didn't hate us so much, but we all know that will never happen.

Only a hypocritical Liberal can make millions from the free market and they say they favor Socialism. If he's a freaking Socialist, why doesn't he just give his work away?