Theatre is Difficult
It is extremely hard to make a career as an actor in theatre, so why do we do it? There are some down sides such as getting an actual job and this is even harder for actresses who are a majority, because the parts that are available to them are a minority. Even then you may have to sacrifice your morals, or to play the stereotypes the world has created. This is what Anton in Show Business is about. Jane Martin has been able to accomplish this by making her observation of the state of the arts in America into a play. She does this while poking fun at theatre stereotypes and still manages to serve up a very human perspective. Martin uses the heightened reality of the stage as a place where we can safely, and with a sense of fun, observe the faults that exist in our society's relationships with theatre.
She does this by having actors play actors who are actors creating the effect of a reflection of mirrors looking into mirrors. The play itself tells of the hard earned efforts of Actors Express, a small San Antonio theatre, to stage a production of Chekhov's Three Sisters. There are significant parallels between Anton in Show Business and Three Sisters. However, the author has made certain that those without knowledge of the Three Sisters would still be able to appreciate the humor in the play as well as the different emotions that it invoked.
I was extremely excited once I laid eyes on the set. It looked as if I had just walked into some kind of basement or old brick house. The giant cabinet was beautiful giving the place character. The cabinet itself was stained a dark brown and had many different...