Last year, right around this time we began rehearsals on our inaugural production EYE OF GOD by Tim Blake Nelson. We thought it best to start off light and easy by tackling issues like a woman’s right to choose, western religious extremism, and the question of “Where is God?” Stage and Cinema said “it seems [we] founded Theatre East to bridge differences in our community and tackle subjects that are universal." Theatremania called it a “successful, dangerous play.”
We then thought it best to relax, take it slow and launch an unprecedented educational program, the New Rites Collective, which is a residency program that provides at-risk, disenfranchised and marginalized youth the opportunity to use the power of the arts to connect notions of their own "self" to the world and foster social and cultural change. The program ran for three weeks at the Louis Brandeis Campus where students not only earned high school credits, they experienced play writing, dance, sculpture, Japanese Butoh, movement, Shakespeare, mask work, painting, video and sound design along with mentoring and counseling. In fact you can see some of the pieces the students created in the lounge after the reading. The program was such a success that the school has invited us to continue the program throughout the school year. Like I said before, we wanted to relax.
We continue to believe that theatre serves a communal purpose, both on stage and off. Whether it’s volunteering for causes like the 2010 MS Walk for a Cure or the upcoming March for Marriage Equality; we have a desire to not only be a part of our community but to serve it.
We also desire to serve our community by choosing scripts that deliver an urgent social message, explore our mortality and the shared human experience. This was the case with EYE OF GOD, the reading of PRETTY CHIN UP and with the upcoming production of THE SOLDIER DREAMS.
Of course none of this would be possible without continued support. As a non-profit organization we rely on financial support from our community. This is how we bring programs to schools, this is how we produce, this is how we survive. Tonight we celebrate those in our community that have supported us in so many ways. We would not be here without them. Their names are listed on the back of the program, in the lobby and also on our website. And I would be remiss if I didn’t say that you too can be listed as a supporter of Theatre East.
So why THE SOLDIER DREAMS, why now? A line from the play reads “Even when the soldier dreams the war goes on.” In November 2009 the New York Senate decisively rejected a bill that would have allowed gay couples to wed. Over 30 states have amended their constitutions banning same sex marriage. Is this play a battle cry? Is it the gauntlet thrown at the feet of demagogues? No. This is simply a face. This is the flesh, the tears, the joy, the heartbreak, the loss, the passion of these human experiences. It’s that undeniable thread that touches us all. This is a story of family, of loss, of love. It’s also a celebration of the unique, indefinable, true relationships we have with one another. It’s about our stories and our memories and our tears and our laughter. We recall that special thing; that special bond. We remember how extraordinary they made us feel. And we feel so incredibly fortunate to have walked with them, if only for a little while. And we smile, and we weep and cradle ourselves and bask in the glow of a beautiful life that…is. And forever will be.
Thank you again for coming. Your presence truly means so much. And now, THE SOLDIER DREAMS by Daniel MacIvor.
[This is a review of a non-Theatre East production]
