Who Do You Know?

It is a propagated myth that success as a playwright (or in any number of fields) is about talent, drive, luck, etc., etc. Nobody likes to admit that it's actually about who you know.

Not always, of course. But often. And you can hardly blame those who are known. When you take on an artist's project, you take on the artist as well. And if you're looking to invest in the arts, you probably don't want to be spending money backing a project you love that's been created by a douchebag you can't stand. I get that, I do.

I just wish people would stop lying about it.

There's an instance I often think back to: I was in a playwriting class at NYU, and our professor (an awesome theatre pro by the name of Stephen DiMenna) had brought in a few other theatre professionals to speak to us. There was a playwright, an agent (I believe), and the head of new works at a fairly prominent playwright's theatre here in New York. I don't want to name names or tell tales out of school, but I will say this: the theatre in question begins with a "P" and ends with "Laywrights Horizons".

These three working theatre folk were going on and on about how they love discovering new work, and you never know when you'll luck into a great new play with a great new voice, and it's the biggest thrills of their careers to discover new playwrights. So I raised my hand. "I have a new play opening next weekend," I said. "I'd like to invite all three of you to come. I'll even comp your tickets."

They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, and then all three said "no". The agent even explained that if a fellow student of mine (here he pointed to that student) were in it or had written it, he'd go, because he knew that other student but didn't know me.

So yeah, it's about who you know. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But if you don't know anyone, you should probably still keep trying. Because, honestly... what else are you going to do?