By Orion Bradshaw (Actor / Educator)
What does the word community mean to You, individually? Ask yourself…
Now think about it just a bit longer…
And now: “You’re welcome.” It’s high time to reclaim these two words within our vernacular, to transform them from cliché to genuine invitation.
Let us not forget that “Ally” is also a Verb. A verb which implies taking distinctive action, of quite often stepping out of one’s comfort zone — even at the risk of discomfort, criticism, or even judgement. For example, perhaps any number of audience members from our sensory-friendly invited dress, student matinees, and parent/ baby matinee performances must get up and move around, or vocalize prominently during or throughout the show. Regarding that, please allow me to use an “I” statement here: in those moments, my implicit bias of what behavior is or is not “acceptable” within the conventions of the modern Theater may come bubbling rapidly to the surface. “Why are they getting up and walking out of the theater at this pivotal moment?! Who brings a baby to the Theater?! Who is making all that noise out there?!” These are impulses that I have been socially conditioned to feel, and I have felt them all during my 17 or so years on the stage. It is part of my personal journey to steadily UNlearn these sentiments… because the ecology of our patron population is shifting, as it should. We as Theatre-makers must stay ahead of this shift, that we might provide an invaluable service to the members of our community who’ve been traditionally pushed to the fringes of our collective awareness. The old guard can no longer support this art form with any sort of longevity; it’s high time to Welcome new patrons of Theatre into our house, and inspire them to stay a while — perhaps for a lifetime.
I am truly inspired by the community-minded initiatives that Company of Fools is bringing to this community, and hopefully beyond. And I’m immensely grateful that I get to unlearn archaic points of view regarding the craft I love so dearly. I sincerely hope that you will come in from out of the cold this month and get warm with us in Regency-era England… and then join us again early next year for something completely different: The Niceties, by Eleanor Burgess. A play for a new era of critical human dialogue; a newer story for a newer world.
Art has a responsibility to its Community. The weakest type of Art is the self-serving kind, if you ask this blogger. To serve one’s community, to call one and all into critical dialogue, to educate a whole generation of people through one’s assets — that is how to genuinely leave a legacy. Onward and forward…
Which reminds me: you are WELCOME to engage me in further dialogue regarding any of these blog posts, and the topic(s) they muse on, after any performance of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley that you may be present for and/or after. I’d love to meet you, and digest these things further with you.
May the Learning never cease!
