Empathy

It has been a really crazy few weeks, that don’t seem to be ending.  So much personal upheaval.

Through it all I am amazed that my ability to focus on what I want has actually become much more clear.  it is as though the prism through which I keep an eye on my dream is casting less and less distracting visions around.  I am zeroing in on the real stuff.

As I move forward I have been thinking about art and its usefulness.  We are crafts-persons, artisans- how can my art (theatre) be “useful” in the day to day sense of the word. 

The only thing I consistently hit on is empathy.  Theatre, no matter what type, forces us to be empathetic- to look at the world through others eyes.

Does it follow that we as theatre artists have an implicit obligation to push that empathetic response and move it toward social justice.  In this world of haves and have nots- can theatre help the cause of social justice- just because of its empathic nature?

I don’t know- but I think I want to find out...