Metropolitan Life Foundation Sponsors Play Competition for Repertoire Espanol - Artículo Breve - Entrevista

Hispanic Times Magazine, June 22, 2001 by Robert Kendall

Sibyl Jacobson, who heads the Metropolitan Life Foundation Life, is immersed in a project she finds fascinating and challenging. She was watching the snow fall on historic Madison Square Park in New York City from her office in the Metropolitan Building as our interview began.

"Really, this is a terrific project." Sibyl enthused. "The theater is so imaginative. We were the first corporation to provide Repertorio Espanol with a grant for the Hispanic playwrights competition where the winning play is given a full theatrical production and the winner is given $3,000 in cash. The second and third place winners receive $2,000 and $1,000 respectively, with the next two winners receiving $500 each. And all of the runners up are given full readings in the theater."

"This is an excellent program," I assured Sibyl. "By having every play staged or read the playwrights are given a marvelous opportunity to obtain audience reaction."

"That is how the playwrights can perfect their plays," she concurred, "by listening to audience response. You know Repertorio Espanol Theater is located near us, at 138 East 27th Street. Metropolitan's famous headquarters overlooks historic Madison Square Park, where we can see winter, spring, and fall seasons transform the park from trees laden with snow and ice, to springtime green, and the colorful fall season, as the leaves turn all colors."

"What prompted Metropolitan to become involved with this program?" I asked.

"There are quite a few reasons," Sibyl replied. "We are concerned with 'inclusion,' which means reaching out. We want to build audiences from all segments of our community to appreciate the art of the theater. In particular theater is very powerful in presenting contemporary subject matter. And it can present contemporary subject matter with an impact in live theater that no other media can. Live theater makes a personal moving statement. Ever since ancient times the theater has had a lot to say about the way we live at any given point in time in human history."

"How did you feel Metropolitan Life Foundation could contribute to making today's theater relevant and important in our diversified community?"

Sibyl reflected a moment, then explained, "We felt stimulating some competition among stage playwrights would motivate them to present plays both timely and significant. Reviving the old Broadway musicals is fine for certain theater audiences, but these old time musical favorites fail to address the needs of the uniquely different audiences we are reaching out to with our theatrical grants for playwrights."

"The winner of the playwright competition has a wonderful opportunity to discover if he has tuned in to the audience the writer is attempting to reach," I exclaimed. "And the playwrights who have their works read have a challenging opportunity."

"Definitely" Sibyl agreed. "Readings of the play give the author of the stage play a chance to determine audience reaction. They can consider it a work in progress, with the audience supplying direction. Almost all stage plays undergo endless revisions, sometimes even after their Broadway opening. So the reading represents an important part of the playwright's creative development."

"I think it is wonderful that Metropolitan Life has the best interests of the community at heart and is making these grants possible."

"Live theater is an expression of our life and our society," Sibyl enthused. "Live theater holds a mirror up to our social scene, through the eyes of the Hispanic community .The plays can be presented in Spanish or English."

Sibyl Jacobson concluded our interview by explaining the important link between Metropolitan Life as a corporation and Repertorio Espanol as a theater.

"Good corporate citizenship involves wanting to give something back," Ms. Jacobson explained. "The theater is a window onto life. Good theater helps us interpret life. Repertorio Espanol is building new audiences and we are doing this because Metropolitan Life is a caring company. We have quite a wide program we promote in the arts. With theater we can try to understand each other and the human condition in our society today."