The Emerging Arts: Management, Survival and Growth by Joan Jeffri (review)

Book Reviews 241 work becomes a study of the process of artistic creativity as much as a study of Clifford Odets. Oddly. the sheer mass of detail assembled for the portrait obstructs our view of Odets the man and Odets the playwright. MICHAEL 1. MENDELSOHN, UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA JOAN JEFFRI. The Emerging Arts: Managemellt, Survival and Growth. New York: Praeger Publishers 1980. Pp. ix, 245. $22.95. Joan Jeffri has written the definitive work on the emergence, development and survival of noncommercial arts activities in America. Jeffri traces the "arts explosion" from its origins in commercial profit and private patronage to the creation of new tax laws which suddenly made it more attractive to fund not-for-profit corporations. According to Jeffri, by 1960 both the Federal Government and private agencies had joined in funding the arts, which had quickly become relevant and integral in American society: The arts exploded notjusl in the number of companies, audience members, and activities but in financial and managerial areas as well - budgets climbed, costs escalated, elaborate facilities were created to bouse arts groups, marketing and audience development techniques were used to promote them, and advocacy and service organizations were developed to help them. Regions gained supremacy not only as stopovers for touring events but as home bases for a whole network of organizations in theatre, dance, music and the visual arts. (p. 1) Perhaps the most interesting chapter for theatre artists is the second, which very expertly chronicles the history of the Off-Off-Broadway movement. It is an excellent history, covering the emergence with Joe Cino's Cafe Cino, through Ellen Stewart's La Mama; weaving its way to the work and ideology of the Open Theatre, The Living Theatre, The Perfonnance Group; and culminating with the acknowledgment of such finnly implanted institutions as The Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, and the Circle Repertory Company. The explosion, however, has not been without its difficulties. Not everyone favored an alternate theatre: Agents. personal managers , artists' attorneys - many of whom work on a commission basisoften dissuade their clients from working in positions that offer little or no salary or visibility. Even teachers of acting and directing sometimes steer their students away from certain opportunities based on their own personal experience with specific theatres. (p. IS) Nevertheless, with the emergence of these big-budget theatres of the 80'S came the need for a more sophisticated approach to both artistic and managerial survivaL Thus, the thrust of Jeffri's book is that if the Off-Off-Broadway movement is to survive - and, by inference, all alternative theatre across this country - then sound management is needed. Jeffri proposes that more management courses be offered in universities and colleges, but in close conjunction with established theatres. Internships at art institutions, carefully monitored by the college, are the way to efficient, more effective management. The university, Jeffri states, is the logical place for continued research into new methods 242 Book Reviews and contemporary solutions to the problems inherent in arts management, and such programs would have a great impact on the national scene. Finally, for those readers interested in starting their own theatres, the book comains much useful infonnation on perfonnance codes and methods of raising money especially the need to tap large corporations; data about such helpful organizations as the Off-Off-Broadway Alliance (OOBA), Theatre Development Fund (TDF), Foundations for the Extension and Development of the American Professional Theatre (FEDAPT). National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). artist collectives, and theatre consortia, as well as about bridge-financing at little or no interest - all this material presented clearly to the reader. I find this book indispensable for the theatre student, theatre professional, and anyone truly interested in the survival of our artists and our art institutions. MICHAEL E. RUTENBERG, HUNTER COLLEGE JUNE SCHLUETER. The Plays and Novels of Peter Handke. Pittsburgh: University of Pillsburgh Press t9BI. Pp. xiii, 213· $ t3·95; $7.95(PB). June Schlueter's study of Peter Handke is a survey of Handke's plays and novels from the speech-plays ("Sprechstilcke," 1966-67) through The Left-Handed Womall (1976), with references to his biography, earlier works, essays, and poems, and a preview of...