We're currently in in tech week for CAIRO STORIES, a trilogy of one-acts set in present day Egypt. The season is called "Rail Against the Headlines," and our aim is to pick plays that somehow mirror what is happening in the news and hold up a mirror of sorts to society itself. Now, we chose CAIRO STORIES one year ago. And our third one-act is solely about the banning of the burka at American University in Cairo. Timing much? Makes me wonder about energy, and life mirroring theater, and theater mirroring life, and how much one continues to the other.
Actually, it makes me think about our entire entertainment industry in terms of this. How much do we dictate the thoughts and opinions of one another, versus how much do we dictate of what we see in the industry. The chicken or the egg? Why does this concern me? Because my goal is to inspire communication, and then action. That's our tagline. However, if we're simply responding to what the current trend is, the current opinions of society, are we really spinning things on their head, or just pretending that we are?
Just some babbles and some thoughts from a very sleep-deprived artistic director during hell week.
xo
S.
Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that your CAIRO STORIES was planned a year in advance... I had assumed from afar that it was programmed in reaction to recent events.
From my observation, I'd have to add the unfortunate role of economics into this discussion of the industry. I've seen several instances this year of theatres (in the Bay Area) changing their shows to smaller casts and moving away from a larger piece. They may intend to go the other way around, but the only time that will happen is if there is an extension of the production.
So many factors into what we sometimes fool ourselves are just our "spirits" creating "art"!
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