So recently I was posed this question, by Simon (honorable mention).
‘What do you think is in it for a 'British Teen' who makes theatre?'.
So to stop me going on a disorganised Nietzsche-esc internal rant which ends up criticising the fact the universe is infinite, I shall use some sub-headings with expanding size.
‘What do you think is in it for a 'British Teen' who makes theatre?'.
So to stop me going on a disorganised Nietzsche-esc internal rant which ends up criticising the fact the universe is infinite, I shall use some sub-headings with expanding size.
Personally:
I feel there is a lot to gain from making theatre myself as a British teen. It allows me to express creatively. It allows me to bring up issues, express insecurities, ask political questions and challenge pre-conceptions of both being British and Being a teenager. Most importantly, I get to be silly. This creative environment is non-judgmental and we offer to share ourselves and be judged on what we have to share. Where else does this happen other than in theatre making?
It’s something I believe a lot of people are missing, and our exposure to art in life and education is frankly poor. It allows us to question whether the artistic goals of personal growth are more valuable than the consumerist capitalist ideologies we are spoon fed by everything else. *DISCLAIMER* (The following metaphor is poorly chosen but I think the passive aggressiveness comes across well).
It’s like that scene in Silence of the lambs, where Hannibal lector escapes the jail cell. The Cops are the media trying to prevent art which questions escaping the cell and theatre is Mr Lector. Then of course the consumerism is the guy whose face gets eaten.
I feel there is a lot to gain from making theatre myself as a British teen. It allows me to express creatively. It allows me to bring up issues, express insecurities, ask political questions and challenge pre-conceptions of both being British and Being a teenager. Most importantly, I get to be silly. This creative environment is non-judgmental and we offer to share ourselves and be judged on what we have to share. Where else does this happen other than in theatre making?
It’s something I believe a lot of people are missing, and our exposure to art in life and education is frankly poor. It allows us to question whether the artistic goals of personal growth are more valuable than the consumerist capitalist ideologies we are spoon fed by everything else. *DISCLAIMER* (The following metaphor is poorly chosen but I think the passive aggressiveness comes across well).
It’s like that scene in Silence of the lambs, where Hannibal lector escapes the jail cell. The Cops are the media trying to prevent art which questions escaping the cell and theatre is Mr Lector. Then of course the consumerism is the guy whose face gets eaten.
Socially (in the place we live in):
The answer to this is well frankly more negative. As a society we have become disenfranchised with theatre as a concept. Take for instance, the Olympian, train’s hours a day for most of their lives to be the best they can be. Take the actor does three years training and that’s about it. There is no continual growth for the actor only approaching a steady state of mediocrity. No wonder we have become disinterested in theatre because there is no desire to make GREAT theatre. Name the last great playwright. Yes, I’m talking about Shakespeare. Yes, that was like 400 years ago.
As an actor there are places we can practice As a theatre maker (and a student) there are much more limited options. That’s because theatre is a logistical nightmare due to the above reasons… So as much as I’m annoyed by the lack of art spaces for us ‘British Teens’. I understand why there is none.
The answer to this is well frankly more negative. As a society we have become disenfranchised with theatre as a concept. Take for instance, the Olympian, train’s hours a day for most of their lives to be the best they can be. Take the actor does three years training and that’s about it. There is no continual growth for the actor only approaching a steady state of mediocrity. No wonder we have become disinterested in theatre because there is no desire to make GREAT theatre. Name the last great playwright. Yes, I’m talking about Shakespeare. Yes, that was like 400 years ago.
As an actor there are places we can practice As a theatre maker (and a student) there are much more limited options. That’s because theatre is a logistical nightmare due to the above reasons… So as much as I’m annoyed by the lack of art spaces for us ‘British Teens’. I understand why there is none.
Nationally: I had an interesting conversation about National
identity and theatre with a nice lady called Jen. She’s a researcher who asked
me ‘Why is it that we cannot accept eastern European ideas of theatre because
they are foreign to us?’. Well we do have a closed minded approach to theatre
and the truth of it is, there is no real place for British teens to make theatre.
That said there are Brilliant institutions such as the national youth theatre which allow young people to be in high quality and forward thinking pieces. This makes me think there is a possibility to bring theatre back into mainstream culture and use it to question the values of a mainstream media which is probably the only thing that annoys me more than the last boss in Tekken 3.
That said there are Brilliant institutions such as the national youth theatre which allow young people to be in high quality and forward thinking pieces. This makes me think there is a possibility to bring theatre back into mainstream culture and use it to question the values of a mainstream media which is probably the only thing that annoys me more than the last boss in Tekken 3.
Universally:
Because the universe is so huge. There is no point to a British teen to make… Wait, The subheadings were to stop me doing this…
And that’s just how Conall sees it.
Because the universe is so huge. There is no point to a British teen to make… Wait, The subheadings were to stop me doing this…
And that’s just how Conall sees it.
(this is the third time I have had to write this now! This software seems to hate me! anyway)
ReplyDeleteHi Conall, thanks very much for responding to the provocation. Although as referenced it is a fairly bizarre metaphor I do agree with your Hannibal thoughts. I think that there are people out there who do understand the power that the arts have to open people's minds and they know that this is not in their interest so they attempt to suppress the arts.
In response to some of your more downhearted thoughts last week I was watching a Newsnight feature on the decline in high street shopping. (which we now know to be Kyle's fault) One of the guests was talking about how the shops that are still succeeding are the ones which offer a live experience and have a sense of theatre. They then went on to talk about what might replace some of the lost shops and the consensus seemed to be that the things that were going to continue to succeed in the physical rather that digital world are things that offer tangible and live experiences. From the point of view of a progressive theatre maker this seemed like relatively good news. I think we just need to keep pushing the engagement and let go of some of the old traditions and expectations of what theatre is (which is why I suppose people sometimes use the work Performance instead of theatre) and I think there is a future.
Simon (Tweet: @Escape_Theatre)