According to Ghandi, “If we could change
ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his
own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not
wait to see what others do.” In short Ghandi is saying that we, as individuals,
need to live the way we would like others to live in order to make a shift,
over time. I personally would need to
abandon cynicism, narcissism, and apathy in my daily life in hopes that through
example, my attitude would adjust the attitudes of those around me and so
forth. Now, I don’t think that this means that theatre can’t be the answer in adding
combating issues of oppressors vs. the oppressed, but I think that there is too
big of a separation from theatre to humans on an individual level. By it’s nature, even though invisible theatre
isn’t “theatre”, but “real life” to the unbeknownst audience, theatre is still
strangers trying to connect to or enact a change or thought in other
strangers. I think theatre can be
powerful in creating a sense of connection from human to human, but a
connection as strong as one needed to really bring out that sort of drastic
change on an individual level is something theatre can’t do, but only probe
at. I’m not sure what the final answer is
or if there even is an answer to make that sort of change. But I do think theatre can aid in creating
empathy and in taking steps to making this shift.
As to if those who
can take theater seriously are only those already interested in making a
change, I don’t think that’s true. I
think that theatre can be taken seriously by anyone. I don’t think it will necessarily change a
radical’s mind, but I think that depending on tact, subject matter, and timing
it can cause a shift in any person, as to if it is a desired shift may be debatable. People do have to be willing and open to change
for one to happen, and no matter what is done, enforcing views down someone’s
throat is ineffective. In' my ideal world theatre would be able to pull that much wight in making the world a better place, but alas.
I am really interested in your comment about the separation between theatre and humans on an individual level. Is this the root of the large gap between theatre and humans on a societal level? I agree with you, theatre can be incredibly powerful at creating a sense of connection and stirring the pot to make people think. I think theatre is more effective on an individual basis than it is on a societal or global scale. Just changing one person seems like a piece of cake when it is really the world you are trying to change. So, how do we bridge this separation that you talk about? Does it start at an individual level, and if so, what does that look like? And is bridging that gap the answer to making our world more empathetic and open to change?
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