Comments on: Who's Getting WET? http://www.apoorplayer.net/2007/10/whos-getting-wet/ ...meditations on the art of theatre... Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:02:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: nick http://www.apoorplayer.net/2007/10/whos-getting-wet/#comment-80 nick Thu, 11 Oct 2007 11:01:12 +0000 http://www.apoorplayer.net/blog/2007/10/10/whos-getting-wet/#comment-80 Tom, Your prejudice and easy assignment of the stereotype is not helpful here. Exactly how is the abhorrent behavior of the two isolated scam artists running a shell theatre representative of the “classic arrogance of New York City theatre?” The WET group in Washington is more representative of the small theatre groups in the city than the plaintiff is. From the article: “Since its founding in 1999, Women’s Expressive Theatre has produced seven plays, 11 fundraisers, and an outreach program for young girls. In 2006, it had an income of $124,971. Its largest expense was the salaries of founding directors Victoria Pettibone and Sasha Eden, at over $40,000 each. Women’s Expressive Theater was awarded U.S. trademark registration number 3,125,889 for the name “WET” in August 2006.” “Since its founding in 2004, Washington Ensemble Theatre has produced 12 plays, three fundraisers, and an outreach program for queer youth. In 2006, it had an income of $61,000. No ensemble members have ever drawn a salary from the company.” The ambition of the reporter of this story is obvious. The hope is that Victoria and Sasha will lose their WET t-shirts through the scandal of this lawsuit and especially the public scrutiny of their theatre finances. I think most theatre people in New York would hope for the same. Tom,

Your prejudice and easy assignment of the stereotype is not helpful here. Exactly how is the abhorrent behavior of the two isolated scam artists running a shell theatre representative of the “classic arrogance of New York City theatre?” The WET group in Washington is more representative of the small theatre groups in the city than the plaintiff is.

From the article:

“Since its founding in 1999, Women’s Expressive Theatre has produced seven plays, 11 fundraisers, and an outreach program for young girls. In 2006, it had an income of $124,971. Its largest expense was the salaries of founding directors Victoria Pettibone and Sasha Eden, at over $40,000 each. Women’s Expressive Theater was awarded U.S. trademark registration number 3,125,889 for the name “WET” in August 2006.”

“Since its founding in 2004, Washington Ensemble Theatre has produced 12 plays, three fundraisers, and an outreach program for queer youth. In 2006, it had an income of $61,000. No ensemble members have ever drawn a salary from the company.”

The ambition of the reporter of this story is obvious. The hope is that Victoria and Sasha will lose their WET t-shirts through the scandal of this lawsuit and especially the public scrutiny of their theatre finances. I think most theatre people in New York would hope for the same.

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