Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Parableof the Reader's Theatre
Parable ofthe Reader's Theatre
We're looking good. I havesome thoughts on the Reader's Theatre, but the very concept of theatreis a communal experience or ritual. There is no way the individual cansurvive in theatre, even the greatest "one man show" is far from a oneman show--the "one man show" needs the technical crew, light man, soundman, director, stage manager, costume, make up, house man, promotionteam, advance man, bookkeeper, etc. So there is no one man show.
Toward AReader's Theatre
in memory of Quentin Easter,
co-founderLorraine Hansberry Theatre, SF
This is a peripatetic theatre, away to teach literacy and literature. It is a restoration of the oraltradition, as ancient as the Nile River and the mighty waters of theCongo. The Academy of da Corner Reader's Theatre is classic guerrillatheatre, on the move, striking here, there, unannounced. It is theatreof the people, dealing with critical issues, life and death matters ofthe heart, soul and body, offering radical solutions always,revolutionary solutions, no Miller lite here. No soft shoe, no shuffle.This is raw dope, uncut, paramedic theatre. We went there in the BlackArts Theatre, Black Educational Theatre and Recovery Theatre,especially. People cried like they were at their mama's funeral,crocodile tears. No suit and tie theatre, this is butt naked drama, nosittin still but run out to the street screaming at the reality oftheir lives in the mirror.
This is surgery for the broken heartedand broken minds. There must be detox and recovery from addiction tocolonialism and neo-colonialism. It is theatre of action, of healing,recovery and discovery. Who are you and what is your purpose? Why areyou breathing precious air, drinking precious water? What is love? Whatis the self? What is communal? What is time? What is history? What isinfinite? What are the possibilities of life?
What are theseroles we play as sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, lovers, husbands,wives, elders, ancestors? What is the music and dance in the silence ofthe wind? The actor must prepare himself/herself before appearing onstage. There is a prepping, a meditation, a oneness with the wind. Thisis not theatre of ego. It is theatre as healer, as doctor in thehouse, but the doctor must heal himself/herself. Don't come on stagesick to death with ego. The people don't want to see ego, they want tosee themselves to heal themselves, don't make them sicker than theyalready are. To heal is to show compassion, love and patience.
Inshort, this Reader's Theatre is a continuation of our most ancientdramatic tradition, from that Nile Valley Osirian drama of resurrectionthrough the revolutionary black arts, to recovery theatre of thepresent era. We shall perform in public and secret, in the city and inthe country, in the woods, in the forest, among the trees, hills andquiet waters, but also on the street corner, in the ally, jail, prison,dope house, hoe house, your mama's house!
We are the guerrilla,ever on the move, jabbing, stabbing, hitting, running, appearing,disappearing, the shadow, the ghost, the mirror on the wall.
--MarvinX
5/12/10
https://theblacklist.net/
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