"We are living through an extraordinary era in British theatre. The stage and the gallery are edging closer to each other."
~ Lyn Gardner, in her review of Punchdrunk's Tunnel 228
This millennium is teetering on the verge of something. We are not quite a global society, and neither are we quite ready to take the plunge. The Digital Age is upon us and as artists, we are still trying to reconcile ourselves with that. What does theater have to offer modern America? Are we doomed to supply only glittering Broadway lights and community troupes that offer up uninspired interpretations of classics? How can theater survive in a competition with film? How can performance art survive up against theater? How can any of them survive the internet?
We are indeed living through an extraordinary era of theater. Not just because, as Lyn Gardner observes, the performer and spectator are moving closer together. This is an extraordinary era because we practice a schizophrenic art. We don't know what we have to offer today's America, we keep chugging along doing the same thing theater has always done.
As practitioners, we can't disregard the questions about what theater is. But it's time to ask new questions. Why does America need performative art? What can the art do for America? How are society and performance intertwined? In what ways is the art changing already that we haven't noticed? How can we incite change in the art? What other forms are performative and ought to be explored? What questions can we not even fathom to ask yet?
This community is not here to 'prove' any thesis about theatrical events. We are here to ask questions, cross-pollinate with each other, and share inspiring moments from the theater we practice and see. This is a blog for explorers.
We are indeed living through an extraordinary era of theater. Not just because, as Lyn Gardner observes, the performer and spectator are moving closer together. This is an extraordinary era because we practice a schizophrenic art. We don't know what we have to offer today's America, we keep chugging along doing the same thing theater has always done.
As practitioners, we can't disregard the questions about what theater is. But it's time to ask new questions. Why does America need performative art? What can the art do for America? How are society and performance intertwined? In what ways is the art changing already that we haven't noticed? How can we incite change in the art? What other forms are performative and ought to be explored? What questions can we not even fathom to ask yet?
This community is not here to 'prove' any thesis about theatrical events. We are here to ask questions, cross-pollinate with each other, and share inspiring moments from the theater we practice and see. This is a blog for explorers.
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