Sarah Jones: One woman, eight hilarious characters
This is yet another amazing TED talk. Sarah Jones is an incredible performer based in New York. Her one woman show, Bridge and Tunnel, won a TONY in 2006. She’s incredibly talented and also an amazing human rights activist. However, the main reason I’m posting this video is to examine some of the questions she brings up in her work. This video is obviously the work of incredible talent. However, she makes the point that all these people exist. Do they exist in the real world? Have you met them before? Or do they exist somewhere inside, waiting to be lured from their cave? For actors, these are poignant questions to ask. When we become a character, are they floating in the universe, waiting for a body to assume? Or are they dashing about our insides, waiting only for the magnet that pulls them out? But more importantly, I think Sarah Jones’ work asks us to embrace the full human experience in ourselves. What would happen if every Jew in Israel had to play a Palestinian for a day? And vice versa? Is there greater understanding to be gained by fully investing in humans totally different from us? I would say there is, and I’d guess Sarah Jones would too. Imagine the revolution that would happen if we all played someone else for a day.
2 Comments
kmjiang posted on October 17, 2011 at 7:34 pm
(1) Depends on the writer/actor, I think. For me, it’s like they live inside my head or on my shoulder. Also, your last sentence made me think of (2) this amusing exchange I had on gchat this afternoon with my best friend:
Meng: Ariel wants us to go LARPing. [Live Action Role Playing]
She wants to see what it’s like.
I’m not quite as eager.
me: …
Huh.
Meng: I don’t think I can handle that.
Without being under influence of some substance.
me: why not?
It’s like improv acting
Meng: With all awkward people.
And foam swords.
Sent at 3:56 PM on Monday
(3) empathy ftw.
kmjiang posted on October 17, 2011 at 7:40 pm
(1a) ACTUALLY. I was just thinking, and it is different depending on the medium, for me. Sometimes it is more like they’re in the ether and I take them into me. HMMM.
Thanks for this; I liked your thoughts.