Perspective - 9/1/05

Last night I arrived home pretty tired. We did a run of R3 and I was released about 5:15 or so. When I got to my rooms I propped up a few pillows on the bed and decided to watch television, something I don't ordinarily do. Over the past two days most of the company members and myself had been following the news about Hurricane Katrina via the internet, but not on television. So I wanted to watch some of the CNN and network coverage.

After two hours of viewing TV coverage, I came away not only feeling completely helpless, but completely useless. It was somewhat the same experience I had watching TV coverage of the tsunami disaster and the immediate aftermath of the Iraqi war. Useless in the sense that I realized I had no particular specialized skills or training that would be of any benefit to any of those people as they faced the disaster in front of them. I don't doubt that simple tasks like fetching and carrying wouldn't be useful, but I lack anything that would make a difference, from carpentry to medical skills.

These are the times and the moments when I am forced to question what it is I do for a living. I can scan a line of Shakespeare with ease. I can project my voice to the point where it's actually too loud to listen to. I can do numerous foreign accents. I can create believeable and sympathetic characters onstage. But of what use are these skills to someone who's just lost her home, two of her family members, everything she's owned, and has nothing to eat, drink or take to keep her diabetes under control? I doubt a few well-chosen quotes from the bard would be of much use.

How are we going to define the purpose of the art of theatre in the modern world? I think that's a question too few of use who do theatre ask these days. How does what we do influence the mood and thought of society at large? Are we creating a theatre which questions, probes and challenges societal values? And if we are, are we only preaching to the choir? Are our audiences the people we need to reach, or only the "safe" people who already share our values? Is theatre today an artistic ghetto, or an art form which can speak to the people who face hardship and tragedy? This is a conversation that few of us have, or perhaps even want to face. But we have to have it, and soon.

Even as I write these words, I check my email to find that one of Buffalo's most dedicated theatre artists, Ellen Opiela, the former Artistic Director of Pandora's Box Theatre, is under hospice care. Ellen is a graduate of SUNY Fredonia, BA Theatre Arts '84. I've never had the pleasure of working with Ellen, but her reputation as an artist deeply engaged in women's issues goes before her. You won't find Ellen's star on any walk of fame; only if you look to the heavens will you find her star shining brightly. She's the kind of theatre artist we need more of, one who gave her talents, her life and her career towards creating an art form which went beyond mere entertainment. Maybe someday more of us will have the courage to follow the path that Ellen has blazed for us. -TWL