time for reality???

a friend (and i use the term loosely) once said to me, "what do you as a performer give to the world... you dont save lives... you dont help people... how does anything you do help the world?"

i was reminded of this conversation when reading about the terrible situation in russia and was wondering if any of you had any opinion...?

i'll give you mine soon...


andrew blake

[%sig%]

Ouch.

If I could fully answer that - i'd be sitting in front of this screen for the next 2 hours writing some essay on the thing. But I won't.

I'll just quickly say that you have to look at the bigger picture - not just at performers but at the role of all artists.

Simply, our culture and our identity(be it individual or national) are shaped by the stories and values of the people living in that society.

How do we hear and receive those stories? Through writers, musicians, painters, sculptors - and sometimes those stories are told through performers through film and theatre.

Film is a very popular medium where performers can be seen and theres all sorts of genres that audiences can watch. People have all sorts of reasons to watch films, maybe its escapism from the ordinary drudge of life. Theres lots. People love watching heroes - it gives us hope. There are always heroes in films. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

I'm only scratching the surface here....heres another point thats occurred to me:

Theres a book by David Mamet called "Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama" - its a fantastic read that may not necessarily be all right but he describes how drama is inherent in all things that is life. Performing is all about human nature is it not? Doesn't that mean that we ARE ALL performers? Onstage or or not?

Read the newspaper - every story has drama in it. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Just like in Beslan. Be it the hostage-takers or the fathers who joined the soldiers.

We are all performers.


Crispy.

A quote from Declan Donnellan about theatre

" theatre is not only a literal place, but also a place where we dream together; not merely a building but a space that is both imaginative and collective. Theatre provides a safe frame within which we can explore dangerous extremities in the comfort of fantasy and the reassurance of a group."

And a thought/ question from me

Without Theatre, and the Arts as a whole, do we have culture? And thus, without new forms of each can we celebrate where we have come from, explore where we are and look forward to what we may become?

A quote from Declan Donnellan about theatre

" theatre is not only a literal place, but also a place where we dream together; not merely a building but a space that is both imaginative and collective. Theatre provides a safe frame within which we can explore dangerous extremities in the comfort of fantasy and the reassurance of a group."

And a thought/ question from me

Without Theatre, and the Arts as a whole, do we have culture? And thus, without new forms of each can we celebrate where we have come from, explore where we are and look forward to what we may become?

andrew blake wrote:
>
> a friend (and i use the term loosely) once said to me, "what
> do you as a performer give to the world... you dont save
> lives... you dont help people... how does anything you do
> help the world?"
>
> i was reminded of this conversation when reading about the
> terrible situation in russia and was wondering if any of you
> had any opinion...?


I'm currently tour manager for a Barking Gecko show, "The Littlest Bird" (coincidentally authored by David Ryding), just winding up our WA regional tour with a few shows in Geraldton.
Put simply, the play deals with the issues for young kids of fitting into a new place or community, and making new friends.

At the end of today's show, a tiny girl came up to Jess (one of the actors), gave her a big tight hug, and said to her "We're moving to Albany next year; but now I won't be so scared of fitting in and making new friends".

Does that count as giving to the world and helping people?


Your 'loose' friend's argument comes up often when issues like recycling, or aiding poverty, come up....what good can one person do?
I don't remember the source to quote, but I'm reminded of a phrase that goes 'think globally, act locally'. We can't expect to change the world single handedly, but we also can't ever underestimate the positive change that can happen from each small individual contribution.

@!#$ happens. So does beauty. Sometimes they're both in disguise; often they're both inexplicable. Art, in all it's forms, is as good a way as any of dealing with and understanding the world and what happens to us while it lets us stay on it.

I reckon the Russian's have a pretty good understanding of the importance of their art and culture; they already know more about tragedy than our history can hope to comprehend, at times their artists were criminalised because ruling tyrants recognised the power of the performer...yet throughout that time artistic expression survived, was strengthened by, and eventually outlasted, terrible world events.

I certainly don't mean to lessen the significance of events like the current one in Russia, but in the greater perspective they pale and are absorbed by the strength of the human spirit ... and that is the topic we, as actors, know best.


Cheers,
Craig