ABSTRACT
When discussing An Oak Tree as a play, it is crucial to note that for Crouch the text is not the thing. The written play is at once a fragment and a complete object in its own right. It exists before the production, but also endures long after that production has been and gone. An interest in and implicit dialogue with the art world is a persistent feature of Crouch's plays. Both the perceptual and the conceptual are recurring reference points throughout An Oak Tree. In 2014, artist and comedy writer Miriam Elia caused a stir when she released We Go to the Gallery, a spoof Ladybird Book claiming to help parents and young children navigate contemporary art. Part of the challenge posed by conceptual art - and part of what Elia was poking fun at in We Go to the Gallery - is that it is primarily about ideas rather than craft. Conceptual art is about transformation.
