DramaLit Blog 1.0: BU School of Theatre

I’ve been thinking a lot about what theatre means in my life, and how the other things I love fit in too…It’s a difficult balance to find, where the theatre ends and the life begins and if that separation is logical/feasible/possible/helpful. A while back in class, when we were first discussing our productions of our Antigone adaptations, I talked about how I’d want the citizens of the town I was performing in to be the performers. Ilana suggested that I look at the Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. The company started as a traveling troupe that occupied different areas of the country for a bit of time, talked to its inhabitants about the local social/political issues, and decided upon a production to put up in order to truly speak to them about their lives and their issues. I ended up using the company for my project on “The Burial at Thebes,” and I can’t stop thinking about the work they do. Currently, they are focusing on the issue of hunger in Los Angeles (where they are now permanently based) by holding two weeks’ worth of events including panels with local farmers, food critics, chefs, and “food activists,” as well as performances by both established and brand-new artists. I think the most exciting thing about this to me is that it feels like “real-world” theater… theater that is pertinent, important, topical, social, political, and active without being preachy. And it just might be that when I hear the term “socially active theater” I put on the preachy label, but I think places like Cornerstone are helping me peel it off. I just read the list of events for the “Creative Seeds Exploration of Hunger” and I want to fly out to be a part of it and see it. It gives me hope that the passions I have in life can meet the work I do in the theatre on my terms.