CMU School of Drama


Monday, April 27, 2015

Supporting the Intersection of Art and Activism

HowlRound: In a February blog about writing and transgender characters, playwright MJ Kaufman asked, “How do I write the world I want to see? And how can I do this while also revealing the painful truths of the world I live in?” These two questions strike me as the fundamental challenges of any piece of theatre, or any art, that seeks to truly generate social change.

1 comment:

Jason Cohen said...

It is very clear that activism is a very powerful thing. Art is an equally powerful thing. I say this because art is constantly changing people’s perception on the world through a ton of different mediums such as film, TV, theater and visual fine art to just name a few. Now what happens when these two very powerful things join forces? (insert explosion here) What I have found happens from my experience is that between the art and the activism one of these two things will take priority over the other. This then creates a very artistic piece with a message, or a strong message with a little bit of art. It is very hard to have a perfect balance between these two things where one is not overpowering the other. I think the way to achieve this balance is to focus on what you want the audience to take away from viewing your piece.