I agree wholeheartedly with Nathan Thomas and his lament in "Thinking Outside the Box." But I am willing to go one step further and say I despise the Black Box. Not for it's origins or intentions, but for what it is now. There are rare, and I mean, rare exceptions, but in general, and especially in Los Angeles, the people who run and/or rent Black Boxes have no right to call them theaters and the productions they do in them theatre. Besides the lack of color and design, there is no thought to fixing all the small flaws such as dangling cords, crappy sound systems, faded paint, worn-out bathrooms or lobby carpeting. Too often actors are in the lobby talking to their friends right before the show starts. And the front of house staff is dressed in their worst just-rolled-out-of-bed duds and their best coat of apathy. There is no suspension of disbelief created for the patrons once they step through the front doors. And this is reflected in the fairly lame and not very daring productions themselves. I place much of the blame for this laid-back, amateur approach firmly at the worn-out, sad floors of the tiny black box. There is definitely crap being done in grander spaces, but more often than not, they require the people who use them to rise to the occasion. And at least they know how hide the loose cables.
Lia Beachy
