You Must Enter The Theatre Through The World
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
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By August Schulenburg
"You must enter the theatre through the world."
-Joe Papp
This quote, shared by Todd London at the 2011 TCG Conference (and tweeted by me), has continued to stick with me, touching on a feeling I tried to put into words nearly a year ago in The Wider Frame.
As I wrote then: "Increasingly, I am seeing the problems that face the theatre as woven into a larger context; and I am coming to believe that we can't talk about the problems facing the field without also talking about that wider frame." I tried to explore those frames through our season of Dog Act, Ajax in Iraq and Menders.
That feeling has only grown in the past year, though I have been woefully bad at putting those feelings into action. Recently, that has changed, and as I've been taking more steps towards direct activism, that feeling of connection between making theatre and achieving social justice has grown.
I have come to believe increasingly in the words of Teresa Eyring's closing speech at the conference:
"...but there are some ideals we cannot relinquish; there are some dreams that we won’t let go. The ideal that every human being has a right to peace, freedom, and creative self-expression; the ideal that every community is sustained by that creative self-expression; and the dream of a global stage where the stories of those communities are freely exchanged; we hold onto these things, because without them, theatre has no meaning.Because theatre does not exist in opposition to Facebook and Twitter; theatre is not in competition with television or film: all of these forms, old and new, are in service to the expression of the human spirit. When Twitter helps spark a revolution against an oppressive regime, that is a victory for theatre..."
To that end, and in hopes of reinvigorating the sometimes fading energies of this online space, I'm going to be letting the world in.
I will try to steer that engagement through the lens of our Core and Aesthetic Values, and the plays that Flux has produced or developed that have shaped our mutual experience. I will preface each piece of the world through one of those values or plays, to hopefully lend a coherency to this effort, and keep this from feeling like we're moving too far afield from more Flux-centric updates and musings (which will of course continue).
So, here we go!
Ajax in Iraq: The Marine Times reports on the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan, and the HuffPo has some interviews with soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan who are not looking forward to the end of their tour of duties. This reminds me of many quotes from our recently produced play...and this petition is an easy way to help a soldier's family keep their home.
Dark Matter: The holographic theory of the universe is gaining adherents. For those not obsessed with cosmology and physics, this theory essentially states that our universe is a four dimensional projection of a five dimensional universe. Says physicist Kostas Skenderis:
"If we look forward to 50 years from now, we will see this period as a precursor to a time when physics is totally reformulated in the language of holography," he says. "Once the theory is properly fleshed out, we will be able to apply it to almost any problem."Menders: I recently discovered this blog Gender Across Borders, which recently posted a penetrating look at the Saudi Women Drivers movement, #Women2Drive, and the movement's surprising lack of support from the United Nations' UNWomen.
Indie Theatre: The good folks of the New York Innovative Theatre Awards have reversed their new nomination party policy based on feedback from the community. Kudos to an institution being responsive and nimble enough to alter course and better serve their constituency - no easy feat.
Collaboration: Have you heard about Citizenside? This post explains how the crowdsourced citizen photo journalist project builds trust and engagement among its users. The quote struck home for some of my recent thinking about the challenges facing theatre:
"The traditional one-way vertical relationship from the mass media to the audience does not exist anymore. Indeed, the whole notion of audience does not exist anymore, as users are now taking an active role in the creating and distribution of media."
There is already some stir about crowdsourced dramaturgy in generating source material for plays, and I'm very interested in Flux exploring this.
So...that's a start. What world are you walking through to enter the theatre?
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Hey Gus,
Another interesting post! Wish you got more comments. Blogs are tough. Anyway -
"Because theatre does not exist in opposition to Facebook and Twitter; theatre is not in competition with television or film: all of these forms, old and new, are in service to the expression of the human spirit. When Twitter helps spark a revolution against an oppressive regime, that is a victory for theatre..."
No, can't agree with any of the sentiments here in literal form. Theatre IS in competition with other forms of art & entertainment for people's time & attention. I know that by expressing the opposite this quote is trying to open up some creative possibilities rather than just curl up into a ball; but a brave saying is still just a brave saying.
With Flux, I see you working toward theater that is relevant to "whole planet" cultural concerns - and that is good. But it has not much if anything to do with equating twitter with theater. Twitter is twitter and can be used for Good or for Evil like all things, e.g. hot water plumbing, alcoholic beverages, etc.
As for what world I enter theater through - it's a pretty narrow door but a very special and very old door: theater, even bad theater, can still do things that no other art form can do - not movies, not TV drama, not TV reality shows, not painting, not music, not performance art. When it works even for 5 minutes it is magic. That's what keeps me coming back for more. What a curse to be under!
-R.
Really useful information, lots of thanks for your post.