Wednesday, July 13, 2016
The Onstage Issue No One Is Talking About, But Should Be
OnStage: The power of theatre lies in its ability to start a conversation. The 2015-2016 Broadway season brought a proliferation of work that challenges audiences to consider the issue of sexual violence against women through varying lenses of multiple playwrights and artists. From the process of one woman finding the strength to leave her abusive husband in Waitress to the different ways in which captives retain their humanity amidst rape and war in Eclipsed, Broadway is finally taking a stand when it comes to the reality of violence against women.
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3 comments:
I think the best part about theater is the ability to start a conversation and even a movement through people just watching a show. With everything going on in the world the way to start a movement is through getting the message to people and a great way to do that is the theatre. People see the shows and then tell people about it and thats what starts the conversation. People talk about what they see how it makes them feel. Also the theatre gives people who have been affected by it the ability to see its not just them and more people care about them. Also the theatre gets to a different demographic than people on social media it exposes it to a wider range of people and opens more peoples eyes to the situations going on around them.
I fully agree with this articles opening statement that "The power of theatre lies in its ability to start a conversation". The reason I am so drawn to working in theatre is because it is such an intricate, collaborative, pure way to tell peoples' stories. In watching real humans tell real human stories, you are able to connect more deeply with those stories and experience so many of the characters' emotions within yourself and your response to the production. On the topic of domestic and sexual violence, the fact that this 2015 - 2016 year's Broadway season brought these issues to light is absolutely incredible, not only for the movements against the issues themselves, but also for the general public and their educations. In recent years, many people, both men and women have felt more and more able to come forward and share their stories of sexual, domestic, emotional, etc. abuse (although that is not at all to say we do not have much much further to go in dealing with all of these issues). Theatre of all sorts is just one more platform that can spread awareness about so many important issues our society faces today, and it is important that we as people who work in theatre keep this trend of speaking out going.
Theater is by nature a collaborative environment. The success of the show lies in the ability of the artistic contributors to communicate and find a clear message. People are drawn to theater because of the raw emotion and power that the words of the playwright, delivered through the actor, enhanced by the designers conveys to the audience. Broadway has an incredible ability to draw attention to topics and use their audience as catalysts for change. The discussion of abuse, whether it be sexual, mental, physical, or emotional, has just begun, and we must rely on the entertainment industry to help continue the conversation. The world is always reaching for new things to turn its eyes to and the theater can give them not only that, but it can make the thing that people are watching profound and motivate them to speak out against the injustices that the world faces.
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