BY ARTHUR PEARSON
 |
|
"I
really do believe that art is one critical Peter
Handler, |
Peter
Martin Handler has worked for about as many political campaigns as he’s
written stage plays. An unabashed “liberal leftie,” many of
his candidates came in a distant second on election night. An habitué
of the off-Loop theatre scene, he’s never made much money as a playwright.
But where Handler distinguishes himself as a clear front-runner is his
shepherding a program that awards $300,000 annually to small theatre and
dance companies in Chicago.
A
history major at Cornell University, Handler’s first job out of
college was as northern California campaign coordinator for Walter Mondale,
a man he was convinced would help “cleanse the world of evil.”
For Michael Dukakis’ presidential bid, he served as a political
organizer for half of Texas. Asked if he was behind the infamously disastrous
Dukakis-as-tank-commander photo-op, Handler replied, “The sad thing
is that, they weren’t asking my opinion. The really sad thing is
that had they asked, I probably would have thought it was a good idea.”
Especially
in light of the men who won out over his candidates—Reagan and Bush—Handler’s
youthful idealism took a hit, which precipitated the writing of his first
play, Meet the President. “It’s about how people respond to
icons, to celebrity—to images of power,” Handler explained,
and then added with directness soft pedaled with an ever-ready smile,
“It’s about the death of democracy in America.”
In
spite of his caustic take on politics as he experienced it first hand,
he continued to work for candidates and causes in which he believed: Dick
Simpson for U.S. Congress, Joe Moore for 49th Ward Alderman, Richard Phelan
for Cook County Board President and Tim Evans (Harold Washington’s
former floor leader) for Mayor of Chicago. He worked for the Campaign
for School Reform and was the principal organizer of the Public Forum
on Wrongful Convictions, an effort that heightened awareness of the case
of Rolando Cruz, who spent several years on death row for a murder he
did not commit.
And
he continued to write plays that reflected his need to distill and understand
his experiences talking to people about their concerns and then trying
to translate those concerns into political action. It’s not surprising
then, that many of his plays deal with ordinary people wrestling with
the complexity and, often times, absurdity of politics and related social
phenomena. In Meet the President, a man wearing a mask of the president
of the United States confronts a besieged family in their home. Written
at the end of the first Gulf War, Jeff Ryner’s American Parade explores
a mother’s attempt to understand why her son was the only soldier
to die in a recent war won by the United States. Birth-Rite tells the
tale of an Hispanic couple’s desperate attempt to win a corporate-sponsored
contest to birth the first baby in the New Millennium.
Another
strong influence on Handler’s work stems from his years as a company
member of New Crime Productions. As a freelance writer and theatre critic
for the Chicago Reader in 1988, Handler wrote an article about the premier
eproduction of the company—whose founders included John Cusak and
Jeremy Piven, both of whom received training from Tim Robbins’ Los
Angeles-based The Actor’s Gang. “I was just thrilled by the
style of acting they were doing, this knock-off of commedia dell’arte.”
So thrilled that he produced New Crime Productions’ second show,
Methusalem, which received a Joseph Jefferson Citation nomination for
best production.
Made
a company member in 1989, he also produced, assistant directed and acted—in
exactly one show—for the company through 1997, about the time it
ceased operations. Handler acknowledged that, per the standards of his
New Crime colleagues, he was not cut out to be an actor. But his brief
career treading the boards, like his extensive political organizing work,
provided him invaluable experience. “At that time I was beginning
to think of myself as a playwright, and I wanted to create a character
on stage—to learn what actors did so I could understand what I needed
to do as a writer.” In general, what impresses Handler most about
actors is their generosity. “Even when they don’t understand
something, they’re willing to try something, anything. Subsequently,
they often find meaning and humor in things that, as a writer, I didn’t
necessarily understand or intend myself.”
Writer,
producer, actor, it seemed only a matter of time before Handler would
try his hand as a director, an opportunity that presented itself more
out of need than desire. Blind Parrot Theatre Company was all set to produce
Meet the President when it suddenly went belly up. Rather than begin a
search for another producer, he decided to put the play up himself.
“I
had enough confidence from talking with colleagues that the script was
good. I had these people lined up who were great actors and designers.
They were available. I was excited and thinking we should just do it.”
With the enthusiasm of Mickey and Judy rather than the sadder-but-wiser
veteran of umpteen political campaigns, Handler marshaled his talent,
rented a “barn” and put on a show as writer, producer and
director.
He
sold tickets in advance to raise capital, invested about $500 of his own
money and made some of it back. “Enough friends and family members
showed up to fuel my fantasy that I could do it again.” In addition
to being produced by New Crime Productions and at the Rhinoceros Theatre
Festival, Handler has self-produced half a dozen of his plays. Even when
he lost money on a production, his enthusiasm remained unbridled. “A
couple hundred dollars is inexpensive, really, to put on a show—to
have what I thought was a great experience, a lot of fun and to work on
a script with talented artists.”
Self-producing
also led him to his current position as the purveyor of grant dollars
for small theatre and dance companies. While gearing up to self-produce
Birth-Rite in 1996, Handler’s day job was an organizer and grant
writer for the Resource Center’s Turn-A-Lot-Around program, in which
residents of mid-South Chicago neighborhoods and other volunteers would
clean vacant, eyesore city lots, often transforming them into community
gardens or parks. One of the program’s funders was the Richard H.
Driehaus Foundation, whose executive director, Sunny Fischer, rolled up
her sleeves and pitched in on Saturday workdays. A theatre lover, Fischer
was intrigued by Handler’s self-production effort and invited him
to submit a proposal to the foundation for funding.
An
experienced grant writer for others, he wrote a grant application on behalf
of himself and was turned down. Handler shared that at that time, in spite
of Fischer’s invitation, the Driehaus Foundation had no formal program
for supporting small arts groups. After mounting Birth-Rite on his own,
he received another call from Fischer asking him to help develop a funding
program for small theatre and dance companies, an idea both she and foundation
president, Richard H. Driehaus found exciting.
Having
taken a half-time position at the Chicago Park District as the principal
coordinator for the Arts Partners in Residence program, Handler devoted
the other half of his time to interviewing actors, dancers, arts administrators,
service organizations and other foundations on behalf of Driehaus. His
research findings and program recommendation resulted in the foundation
issuing in 1997 its first Request for Proposals from theatre and dance
companies with budget sizes under $100,000. Eighteen companies received
unrestricted general operations grants ranging from $2,500 to $5,000.
In
January 2000, Handler became a full-time program officer at the foundation,
where he continues to administer the small theatre and dance program.
Unlike the majority of his foundation colleagues, however, Handler remains
an active participant in his field of expertise. As the program has expanded,
Handler has hired several dance and theatre artists to review requests
for funding, which provides the foundation a strong peer-level review.
Handler handles any potential conflict of interests by recusing himself
from review of any group for whom he has worked or hopes to work. The
same goes for each of his reviewers. To be extra careful, the board, which
makes the final decision on all grants, is informed at the time of its
review of all instances where a reviewer has been recused.
When
approaching theatres as a writer, Handler also states up front that their
artistic decisions regarding his work have no bearing on his board’s
decision regarding any application they might make to the foundation.
Of two companies to whom he had submitted plays, Handler observed, “I
have to believe they took me at my word because they rejected my work
before grant decisions were made and they got grants. The system works.”
The
system also works because it is one of a small handful of foundation and
government funding sources available to small theatre and dance groups.
It works because Handler sees it as his job to make it as convenient as
possible for groups to apply for a grant. And it works because Handler
also sees it as his job to disseminate information about the program to
potential grantees and funders alike.
It
was his sharing with fellow arts funders that the program was filling
an important niche that led the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
to ask the Driehaus Foundation to submit an application for additional
support for the program. Since 1999, MacArthur has added $150,000 to the
pool of funds available through the Driehaus program, bringing the total
available dollars to $300,000 annually. Just this year, MacArthur made
a further commitment of $500,000 in each of the next five years for Driehaus
to expand its program and make grants to theatre and dance companies with
budget sizes up to $500,000.
With
the rapid success and expansion of the program he pioneered, and his recent
appointment as co-chair of the Arts and Culture Group at the Donor’s
Forum, is there sufficient time left over to pursue his own writing?
Handler
recently completed two rounds in Stage Left Theatre’s Down Stage
Left play development program, where he workshopped Everything Abundance
Lacks, a new play about people living in an abandoned garbage dump exploring
how to live without food, or capitulate and live in the mainstream. But
unlike many writers, he’s not driven to do nothing but write, write,
write. Just named to New City’s annual list of the top 50 players
in Chicago theatre, Handler shared, “I really do believe that art
is one critical element of dousing the raging fire and of helping us all
to create a new and better world, but it’s only a part of it. I
would like to think that some day my writing can contribute to that but
I think there will always be other things to do as well.” Like spending
time with his wife, daughter and recently adopted son, crusading for future
political candidates and continuing to nurture Chicago’s grassroots
community of dance and theatre artists.
For more information about the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation funding program for small Chicago theatre and dance companies, contact Peter Handler at 312/641-5772