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Theatre for Social Change or Screaming into the Big, Blue, Abyss?

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I didn’t really know where to start with this blog. Upon reading Austin’ post, no theaters or performances immediately jumped to mind. So I started the only place I could think of:             Google provided me with some great jumping off points. First, I’ll say I was incredibly encouraged by American Theatre Magazine’s “ 14 Theatrical Plans toChange the World. ” Each of the 14 companies/training programs/outreach/theatre artists mentioned has a uniquely different approach to creating theatre for social change. Luis Alfaro and his adaptations of plays like Oedipus and Medea, which “brought the epic qualities of Greek tragedy to a Low Angles barrio and to the quiet life of an undocumented Mexican seamstress in Chicago”, particularly stuck me. Another group – Theatre of the Oppressed NYC – actually takes their performances out of theaters and performs instead in “a house of politics.” Using their “strong relations...
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Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better or The Humanity in Phamaly Theatre Company's Cabaret (that's missing from a lot of other musical theatre performances)

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Ok so I’m choosing to riff! I feel like with the little experience I have with Phamaly Theatre Company back in Denver, it would be a missed opportunity not to discuss their work and their role in changing the way Denver theatergoers see performers with disability.             “Phamaly Theatre Company’s mission is to inspire people to re-envision disability through professional theatre.” “Phamaly Theatre Company’s vision is that every individual with a disability has the opportunity to participate in all aspects of high quality performing arts.” I love how brief and direct these statements are and yet they are full of lofty goals and potential. Perhaps exactly what a mission statement should be. They don’t tell you how they want you to “re-envision disability.” They are not laying out their opinions in easily digestible, catch phrases. But rather they place the onus squarely on their audiences. It is up to you,...
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If You Cut Me Will I Not Bleed or Paving the Way for Less Racism in Theatre

            Ok so this is not an easy week. I have found, when discussing race in theatre with my classmates, the conversation tends to have a circular feel to it. I would even venture to say that even the “tangential paths” Osi references in her prompts would end up leading to similar destinations. But enough philosophizing; time to get into the nitty gritty.             In my perfect world, in my dream of a theatre company, my monetarily successful theatre would have a full season that included plays that would represent, depict, and speak to every color on the race color wheel. This is naïve, maybe foolish. The social obstacles of our current society make this dream seem silly and perhaps even offensive in its “rose-colored glasses” view of a hypothetical future theatre. But if we don’t dare to have that dream, how can we even begin to tackle each, individual ba...
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It's Not Me Onstage But I'm Also Not You or Playing At Being A Real Person

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In an ideal world, docu-dramas and documentaries would simply present the facts and let the audience decide for themselves. However, I believe this is an impossible aim. As Mike pointed out in class: even in a documentary, there is a director shaping what you see and don’t see. The “dark matter” of the story points left out of a documentary says almost as much about the story being told as those deemed important enough to be included.             Docu-dramas and verbatim theatre fail to succeed in remaining impartial (in my eyes) for the same reason: the playwright chooses what to include and what to leave out. They choose the format in which the story is laid out. They choose how to present each detail to the audience. It is the playwright, rather than the subject, that has the control. But there is an added layer of distance in theatre: the actors. I don’t care how good of an actor you are, you are still inher...
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