It’s amazing to work closely with university and conservatory theatre students. Between the classroom and productions, I get to watch them emerge as artists—as thinkers--as change-makers. In this column, you’ll get a sampling of what the next generation of theatre artists are thinking about, and creating—and sometimes, what they are dreaming. Often the articles come from class assignments, with thoughts and perspectives on….. the power of the arts, theatre history, storytelling, community, innovation, performance, literature, and design. Sometimes, they might just be reacting to events that are happening in the world. I hope you enjoy the many points of view of the CCSU University Wits!
And check out these inspiring thoughts from some legendary artists and thinkers...
“The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have been hidden by the answers. The artist attempts to undefine, to present the moment, the word, the gesture as new and full of uncontrolled potential.”
—James Baldwin, novelist & playwright
“I believe the theatre’s function is to remind us of the big human issues to remind us of our terror and our humanity. In our quotidian lives, we live in constant repetitions of habitual patterns. Many of us sleep through our lives. Art should offer experiences that alter these patterns, awaken what is asleep, and remind us of our original terror.”
—Anne Bogart, director
“The public sometimes thinks an artist is a television set—something comes out, nothing goes back. They don’t realize that if they can hear me, then I can hear them—their coughs, the electronic beeps from their wristwatches, the squeaking of their shoes.”
—Alfred Brendel, pianist
“Reject the banality of surfaces. Expressionism is an intensity of vision which tries to catch the throb of life, necessarily doing violence to external facts to lay bare internal facts.”
—Eugene O’Neill, playwright
“The function of art is to awaken what is asleep. How do you awaken what is asleep? You turn it slightly until it awakens.”
—Viktor Schklovsky, writer/theorist on the arts