If that’s not the way it always was – the first play about Columbus goes back to the 1500’s (“El Nuevo de Mundo” by Lope de Vega); the first to be staged in America itself was in 1794 (“Columbus, or The Discovery of America. A Historical Play” by Thomas Morton) – yet even as far back as 1858, the theatrical treatment was far less than worshipful of the Italian explorer of the New World.
4 comments:
I am glad that I was educated so thoroughly about Christopher Columbus in high school. Elementary and middle schools in the US have a terrible track record with teaching us all how amazing Columbus is, and that he discovered the new world! Yet they forget to mention that he also killed thousands of people, took his new “friends” as slaves, and also destroyed the population of an entire island on his way over. I’m glad to know that there are plays out there that represent the true Columbus in ways both “satirical and savage.” I would love to see a performance of one of these plays broadcast on Columbus day one year, just to see if it could make a difference. Then maybe people might not want to celebrate a mass murdering psycho and may actually try to celebrate the indigenous people that he killed off.
I find it so strange that our history has denoted Columbus as a courageous explorer who was the one to find America, which is anything but true. There were people here before him, even Europeans before him. He did not know where he was. He did not even make it to main land. He was the start of the mass slaughter of natives that continued for decades after his arrival. Up until now, he has been revered by the population as a whole, but now that seems to be changing. I have noticed more people trying to correct this historical fallacy over the past few years, which is uplifting. I am glad to see that theatre is tracking along with popular opinion here. Theatre should emulate life and the people. If it is not representative of a sect then it is not being effective.
Christopher Columbus has grown into one of the biggest American pathetic jokes in modern times. As a child, I was raised thinking that his discoveries were ones that changed the world and is the reason why we're all here today. Growing older and seeing this side to Columbus the made this absolute joke out him quickly grew from a thought of confusion to a habit that I myself partake in. I love how this article is able to encapsulate the sense of satire by highlighting the importance of why they don't want us to look up to Columbus. The answer is easy, he was a rapist, murderer, and a racist, and he did it for sport. I was told once that when discussing these heavy topics, it's easier to laugh about it than cry about it, which is exactly why the satire is important when discussing a man who died centuries before we were all born.
It doesn't surprise me that I'm almost completely unaware of any of these plays, however, I do see a major opportunity to explore Christopher Columbus today as there is a general consensus that he is not a historical figure to be celebrating. And for good reason, Christopher Columbus is at least partially responsible for the death and rape of tens of thousands of Native Americans. I think today that audiences would have a much better response to stage productions featuring the life of Christopher Columbus, both the good and the bad, particularly because his name alone has come to be controversial as the American conscious has developed to a point that it is far more aware of the horrific realities of Columbus' exploration of the New World. It's interesting to think about how quickly this has come about, and I'm curious to how Elementary schools are addressing the shift in opinion of Christopher Columbus.
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