For the Passion

Dec. 24

Fair warning, dear reader, this blog might occasionally be political in nature.

Recently, protests broke out in Northeast India in opposition to a citizenship bill passed by the federal government that seemingly favored certain races over others . No need to explain other than that the ruling seems to be dividing the country. Although different than what is currently happening in the US, the results are somewhat similar. A country divided by intense fervor on both sides of the issues.

Some of the worst protests here have occurred in Assam, where several of the young artists I work with are from. Fortunately, their families and friends have not been harmed, but Assam did lose internet access for sometime and suffer disruption in travel.

During this time of pockets of unrest, I was in the fortunate position (and places) to work with 1) children from the slum areas of Pune, 2) a school founded on Bahai beliefs, 3) people of various religious sects and educational levels, as well as 4) continuing my work with the young artists of the National School of Drama. For many of us, the unrest was simply a discussion topic. For some of those I worked with, the situation was closer to home, though none were touched by the handful of deaths that have resulted from some of the protests. We all got online glimpses of, or heard stories about, the passionate crowds defying governmental mandates of not gathering and protesting or strict curfews. We–my colleagues, friends and students and I–continued on our creative ways, deepening relationships with each other, and discovering news ways to connect and interact as we explored both understanding of our selves and our world around us. The ‘normality’ of these collaborative experiences kept us focused on positive, supportive relationships, unconcerned about our differences, seeking our similarities.

Now worry not, dear reader, as I am not about to step on a soap box and begin preaching about the power of theatre to solve our worldly woes. I don’t generally subscribe to the world of easy solutions or one-size-fits-all life-changing experiences. I do believe that the arts, and theater particularly for me, do have the potential to celebrate and create community, both through the focus of the artistic work and by bringing together people in pursuit of a common idea or goal. I’m not convinced we (in the theatre/artistic field) always take full advantage of that, even as we champion the idea.

I find myself actually influenced by the passion of the Indian protests, and even of some individuals and crowds in the US that exhibit such passion about their beliefs. I am most thrilled when theatrical experiences attain that kind of organic, deeply felt passion. The protests and crowds, unfortunately, often result in negative words or actions, and are often inflamed by labeling and targeting the ‘other.’ Theatre, in contrast, can inflame passion by opening minds and understanding regarding the ‘other.’ When engaged to that purpose, I believe the arts can encourage open-minded passion with the goal of wanting to bridge the divide as opposed to an inflamed passion that perpetuates a divide.

As I see it, that begins with the openness to involve, to engage, to bring folks together and share time, ideas, a little sweat and a lot of joy through a theatre-making process. As we work to celebrate who we are individually and collectively, we cultivate strong, supportive relationships that demonstrate the power of coming together. Sometimes what we have to say isn’t as important as how we share our time with others.