Theatre East

Are You Not Entertained?

2012-02-26T12:28:00.002-05:00

from William Franke, Director of Development & Communications

While I realize that quoting the catchphrase from an Oscar-winning film from 11 years ago may not seem the most timely of ideas, I couldn't help but think of Maximus bellowing to the crowds at the Colosseum after reading the latest post at An Uncommon Mind. Subtitled An Autodidact's Guide to Public Education, it is the blog of Joanne O'Brien, who is a high school teacher as well as a longtime friend of Theatre East*.

In her post from last Sunday, Joanne addresses the challenges of Engagement vs. Entertainment in education, asking "How did we come to confuse engagement with entertainment, and to insist that teachers perform like marionettes, bouncing around the classroom, mouthing scripts prepared by others?" She goes on to argue that truly engaging educational instruction "challenges the student to seek out the answers to questions of 'how' and 'why' in addition to the 'what' and 'who' of a topic. This search goes hand-in-hand with challenging activities, and rewards students for delving deeply into subject matter."

As I read this, it occurred to me that what Joanne strives for in the classroom is what Theatre East strives for in the theater. In the classroom, the "why" makes learning so much more interesting than the simple rote memorization of names, dates & places. And of course in the theater it is enjoyable to see complex characters in interesting situations and it's rewarding to be able to parse out the "why"—the motivation— behind each character's words & actions. But that would stop at being merely entertaining. At Theatre East, as we lay out in our core beliefs, we believe that theatre enables a greater connection to the world and to each other & that it is a catalyst for critical thinking.
We seek to advance the dialogue of the shared human experience through works that utilize simple storytelling,providingour community with a platform to deepen its understanding of themselves, each other and the world we share...works that provoke you to see the "what" up on stage, think about how the "who" is you, and challenge you to debate what your "how" & "why" would be under those circumstances. And not to have the solution laid out up on stage, but rather allow it to be something you discover & unlock inside of you.

I feel we've done a pretty good job wrestling with some meaty issues in our past couple of seasons with EYE OF GOD (what are the limits of faith, especially where they intersect with a woman's right to choose?) and THE SOLDIER DREAMS (who has the right to make end-of-life decisions for a loved one? and how can we connect with them before it's too late?) and I look forward to the discussions that will follow NORMALCY in August-September. What will those post-show conversations be like? Well, you'll have to come to the show and see for yourself!

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*(and wife to Theatre East's Resident Composer & Sound Designer, Scott O'Brien.)

Planted Seeds

2012-02-18T09:37:00.000-05:00

Jim's aunt, grandfather, visiting relative (actually from NYC!), and uncle (L to R)

We're excited to have our first guest post! This one comes from Theatre East community member & supporter Jim Farfaglia:

Seeing plays in New York City is a big deal for an upstaterlike me, so back in December 2007, while in town visiting a college buddy, Iwas looking forward to a good show. The tickets to a play at the BeckettTheatre were a gift from a friend of a friend, who offered just a brief previewas he placed them in my hand: “I’ve heardgood things about this one.” Iwas ready for the larger world theatre can offer our certain lives. I was readyto see things fresh. But what I wasn’t ready for, standing and applauding thatperformance of Harvest, was what brokeground in my opening heart as that curtain closed.

I was raised in a rural area near the Great Lake Ontario, wherewinter blizzards and rain-filled springs create rich muck farms. Two of myuncles’ families made their lives on those farms, and my earliest memories are filledwith all the drama homespun lives can produce. The characters of Harvest wrestled with that kind of life,and watching their passages through the play was a tender reminder that only afew of my uncles’ generation were still with us and, when we buried them, we wouldalso be burying the farming life. The emotion I felt for both the Harvest performance and my ancestrystirred with my applause—and the seed to somehow honor my family was planted.

A few years had to pass before I could nurture that seed tofruition. I took every opportunity to talk with my relatives—the older thebetter—asking them to share what they remembered from those farming days. We nosedaround the root cellars of our memories, compared notes over dinners made fromGrandma’s recipes, held photos of our loved ones like prized produce.

During the first half of 2011, I wrote feverishly, somethingwithin me urging: Now is the time. BySeptember the book was complete and Country Boy, a collection of poems about the people, places and thinkings of myyouth, was bound. How fortunate I was to be able to place a copy of it in myfather’s hands six weeks before he passed away, and how my memories curled upwith his in our last talks.

It’s not often that we can see so clearly the line between alife-changing event and its humble beginning. Today, when I attend a book signing and read from Country Boy, I always start by telling the audience about a littletheatre company tucked away, like the sweetest farm garden, in a corner of NewYork City. And I tell them about a play that brought me to my feet, thatbrought my pen to paper. Thanks Jud. Thanks Christa. Thanks cast and crew. Mayyou always hold close the truth that Harvestdid not die with its last performance. In fact, it thrives.

Theatre East

Are You Not Entertained?

Planted Seeds

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Proven: Art Defines Civilization

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THE SOLDIER DREAMS Workshop Curtain Speech

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Theatre East Promo 2010

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