Why I don’t like student productions.
What writers prize is simpler, quieter and more enduring than clamorous Fame: it is recognition. Fame, by and large, is an accountant’s category, tallied in Amazonian sales. Recognition, hushed and inherent in the silence of the page, is a reader’s category: its stealth is its wealth.
– Cynthia Ozick, Writers, Visible and Invisible.
Something that used to irk me to no end when I wrote/dramaturged the two Kent Ridge Hall productions I was involved in - there was never any effort to be professional about the publicity, and include the names of the producers, directors and playwrights.
What’s worse is that the playwrights were always relegated to the rear positions when it came to curtain calls and programme credits, when we actually had one of the most central roles in the productions; the production would never have taken off if we hadn’t started writing in the first place.
I used to think that it might seem like arrogance on my part if I clamoured for more mention, or mention in greater detail, so I always kept silent about this issue, although I always felt very strongly about this.
But reading Ozick’s article has made me realise that I’m not alone in this desire for recognition as a writer, especially when we writers are one of the most ‘invisible’ people in the business of wordsmithing.
