In the interests of peace, I have tried hard to let the turmoil of Malibu Stage subside without comment, but the letters of Alana Tarkington and Paul Yeuell cannot go unanswered.
Ms. Tarkington’s duplicitous behavior totally alienated the three main officers of the Company: The president emeritus, the artistic director and secretary. She was personally responsible for bringing on to the board four of its most destructive elements which then attempted to ‘take over’ the company and destroy its artistic policy. Ms. Tarkington suffers from an unfortunate speech impediment which compels her to speak out of both sides of her mouth.
With flagrant hypocrisy, she declares that she “has never engaged in negative letter-writing” and then proceeds to repeat excerpts from old-hat correspondence which, she well knows no longer pertains to the present situation. That kind of behavior speaks for itself. To decry negativity while at the same time sowing its seeds, is the height of hypocrisy.
Paul Yeuell was interviewed for a position at Malibu Stage but it was made utterly clear to him that until we raised operating capitol, it could not be a paid position, as no one was on salary. After a brief meeting, it was clear he hadn’t the credentials to run an ice cream stand let alone a theatre company and his letter is simply a vindictive response to being rejected. Due compensation for actors has been in every budget ever formulated by the company and has been a staple of the theatre from the very start.
It should be made clear both to your readers and your editors that many of the letters appearing in your columns are part of a carefully orchestrated smear campaign motivated entirely by sour grapes.
Charles Marowitz