Proven: Art Defines Civilization

I was catching up on some podcasts the other day, and being a bit of a history nerd (and because I do hold to Theatre East's belief that theatre can teach us about humanity's place in history), I was listening to BBC Radio 4's "A History of the World in 100 Objects." In the series, Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, uses a survey of objects spanning human history as a window into what makes us human.

In episode #004, MacGregor examines a carving of two swimming reindeer, made 13,000 years ago by one of the first humans to express their world through art. But why did they do it? According to MacGregor and his guest, archaeologist Professor Steven Mithen, when we evolved into homo sapiens ("thinking man") something dramatic happened in the human brain, allowing for imagination & creativity to emerge. We went from just making tools to shape our world, to making jewelry to adorn our bodies and making representations of the animals that shared our world.

We started making art.

So, there you have it. Modern humans, civilized humans, evolved once we started making art. Art Defines Civilization. QED.

You can find the podcast on the BBC website here and on iTunes by searching history world 100 objects.

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Judson Jones Speaks with Students at NYU—Gallatin

At Theatre East, we welcome any opportunity to connect with the educational community. So when he was invited to speak with students at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study following his curtain speech at the workshop presentation of THE SOLDIER DREAMS, artistic director Judson Jones jumped at the chance.

The students are enrolled in the course PHILOSOPHES AND FOLLIES: THEATER IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT, taught by playwright Christopher Cartmill. As per Professor Cartmill:

"The class is about the 18th century theater and the connections to Art, Politics, Philosophy, etc. We are looking at the works of Voltaire, Lessing, Lillo, Goldsmith, Gozzi, Diderot, Gottsched and the like. The class is structured like a salon and guests are always welcomed. For our first class I invited Judson, director Nicole A. Watson and actress Kathleen Chalfant—she was nominated for Broadway’s 1993 Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for her role in the original production of Tony Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES—to discuss the responsibility of the artist for the works they create and put out into the world. The question of the power and responsibility of the theater was a big issue in philosophic circles in the 18th century and I wanted to drive home that many of those questions remain unanswered today."

We look forward to any opportunities to interact with educators and will keep you posted about it here. If you are an educator who would like to work with us, contact us here.

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