“Even if it’s fake, you’ll still get the benefits,” performer Alexandra Tatarsky told the audience. Those benefits being destressing, tension-relieving, “and it’s really good for core strength,” she says. Tatarsky called the exercise “laughter yoga.” So I did. She told me to laugh and pretend cry; I did. Laugh and pretend vomit; I did. Laugh and scream; I did, loudly.
6 comments:
I think Marc Bamuthi Joseph is onto something with his description of “stunted empathy.” In our current political climate everyone is very stratified in their own political factions. The lack of conversation between political groups causes no healthy discourse to occur and that negatively impacts the government system and its relationship to the general public. The political climate of our world will often bleed into theatre because theater is about an expression of feelings through performance. The current political atmosphere of our country has warranted festivals like Fringe Festival to showcase works about people’s reactions and feeling to what is occurring in the present. I think the job of festivals like Fringe is to show work that is reflective of the current issues in our world. Whether that is political or global warming related is up to the individual. The best part about theater is its ability to be a forum for expression of anything that an individual finds important.
I was struck by the same part of this article as Ella was! After speaking about Alexandra Tatarsky's "Americana Psychobabble", Tran talks about the idea that people, including theatre-goers have lost empathy, especially in recent years. Because of the absolute tragedy that is the American political climate and society, I think people have had to train themselves to be less empathetic so that they can become less aware of the world around them and move on with their lives. This reminds me of Brecht's theatre that we have been studying in our Foundations of Drama class. Brecht was insistent in his political works that the audience not empathize with the characters onstage and instead learn about politics and society objectively. I do not believe that this is what Americans need right now. We, especially those of us who are privileged in our race, gender, sexuality, etc., need to be able to understand where others are coming from in order to work toward change of empathy and kindness.
This hip-hopera sounds so fascinating. I wish it would be performed here in Pittsburgh. It is a sad truth that black operas basically do not exist at all. I have never herd of a opera telling the story's of a black community. Yet another thing I would want to explore if giving the resources. And while we need more black new art, when it comes to opera we also just need more new work. We need to make opera cool again and a Hip-Hopera I think is a very good start!!
I would also be interested to know if there is a Pittsburgh Fringe festival. I am from Orlando which is suppose to have the longest running and largest fringe festive in all of North America. That Fringe Festival was such a big party of my community bonding process. To meet all the locations theatre artist and be able to see there work is the best feeling.
I think it's interesting that this article takes such a micro-view of theatre reflecting ideas about current politics. The article only talks about the Philadelphia Film Festival, which is a jumping off point. This point applies to all theatre. The article seems to say that a good majority of theatre produced today deals with politics but I think this isn’t generous enough statement. Arguably all theatre either comments or is inspired by some political thing going on in the world. The choice to produce a somewhat “fluffy” show is reaction to this harsh political climate as much as a show calling out Donald Trump is commenting on society. Marc Bamuthi Joseph says, “My job as an artist is to make content for people that moves them, to connect them to emotions that’s about empathy more than vitriol, and compassion more than polemics,”. This point perfectly summarizes the article and how to make theatre today relevant. Theatre is all about storytelling and part of stories are emotions. Theatre a lot of the time is inherently political because it captures the emotions evoked by the political actions of the time that the play is written.
Fringe festivals sometimes have the most compelling work. Their ability to not have to cater to the budget, or venues makes it so that the work can be more real in some ways. I liked hearing about the political commentaries in the shows discussed in this article. The fact that most everything in our life is colored by the news today is something that people don’t like to mention too much when considering art and theater unless it is supposed to be directly related. The quote “Something always was, something else will be, let that set you free” stuck out to me because that is something that I try to keep in mind as I go through my everyday life. I take comfort in the thought that things will always be, and that gives me solace in this turbulent world atmosphere. I hope that theater continues to give solace in the hardest of times.
People in who make up the America of today do not have the option to be empathetic. It is too emotionally draining. It is infuriating and difficult. It is too distracting. Being empathetic is hard, especially now, when there is such a huge divide between political parties. America treats its presidential candidates as sports teams; it is all about winning. This generates an unfeeling, callous climate to begin with, then, after Trump’s election, So many bad things started happening that people began to just block it all out. I remember seeing a post from one of my friends on Facebook explaining how they went on a happy, relaxing beach trip and came back to news of the Vegas shooting. It seems we cannot escape the horrors of life in the US ever. Theatre has a really important role in this narrative, to offer people of all kinds a break from life, wherein important work can be done, work on the self to open your mind to more perspectives.
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