DramaLit Blog 1.0: BU School of Theatre

Humpback Whale Calf. Photographed by Bryant Austin.

You knew it wouldn’t be long before I did a blog post about whales, but before you discount this as the ravings of a marine lunatic, please, good friends, read on. To me the things that pull at my heart and conscience (such as life in the ocean) are inextricably linked to what I must do as a theatre artist. Thus, in my research of the link between marine life and the arts, one particular organization has caught my eye:

The Marine Mammal Conservation Through the Arts (MMCTA) works to photographically “document and communicate whales on their scale, sharing our results with children, adults, and policy makers who have had no reason to be moved by whales or their plight.” In this way MMCTA hopes to induce empathy and awe for a creature that for the bulk of the population is only represented by “words, numbers and statistics.” The photographs, taken by Bryant Austin, are indeed displayed in full “whale-scale.”

In class we have talked about opening plays to other realms, most specifically the realm of images and sound. Here I present a potential spring-board for delving into a realm of theatre that deals in experience and emotion beyond our current grasp as human beings.

Austin seeks to “exhibit a reality that defies verbal description and remains outside our awareness.” To me, this seems a theatrical rallying cry. When I think of educational theatre, I get a bad taste in my mouth, but here is the potential for a theatrical medium which would stomp on the preconceived notions of “educational theatre.” I asked myself immediately, “Why isn’t theatre doing this? Why just photography?” This seems to me a jewel out of which can be born a kind of educational, biological theatre that is not corny or boring or stifled or overt. I think about expanding our exploration beyond the human condition– what are the effects of the human condition? In this case the effect of the human condition is the pain and suffering of a creature far beyond our grasp intellectually and emotionally. We have exploited these beings negatively, how can we seek forgiveness? Sometimes theatre is exploitation. How can we put that exploitation of pain and suffering (in this particular case of whales) to positive use?  Perhaps in this way we will discover experience that is universal in a very broad sense of the definition.

Please check out these links for further information and context!

Marine Mammal Conservation Through the Arts

Austin Bryant: Short film + Interview

We Are Listening