Part of the benefit of having a network of people is that you don't need to be everywhere or read everything to find the important bits.
In the last two days, we had a couple of prime examples of this fact.
Jonathan Alexandratos, one of our playwrights for Chaos Under Construction, pointed us to a blog on the power and importance of chaos by theater director and Viewpoints co-creator Anne Bogart.
Here's what she says about chaos.
"We all have our boundaries and our limits of tolerance. But in order to be engaged in the artistic process, which is a form of action in the world, it is necessary to allow some degree of chaos and error into the process and into one’s perception. Can you tease out the limits of what is tolerable? Can you allow chance into the process? Can you back off controlling everything?"
We believe you can and must do these things. Jump in. Hang on. Twist and whirl in "the limits of what is tolerable." Otherwise, your work is clinical, sterile and beige.
The other example was from an old director friend, Marty Kushner, who, over a couple of beers and some pretty good jazz on the juke box at Jimmy's Corner, shared a poem by Marge Piercy called "To be of use." It dives right in with a beautiful statement of why we at Truant do the projects we do.
Here are the first lines.
The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
The people who join us in projects time and again are these very people. They see theater as their work and they jump in head first. They rehearse in dingy spaces and perform in tiny black boxes and don't get nearly enough glory or money for their efforts. But they do it anyway and they do it over and over again. They do it because it is who they are.
We do what we do because it is who they are -- the people we love best; the ones in the untilled theater fields, moving things forward and breaking sod. We at Truant are grateful that we have the chance to help them plow and play, "natives of that element."
We wish everyone the same opportunities - to play in the chaos and surround themselves with people who harness themselves to tasks bigger than themselves - but it is a rare thing in the cubicle world and we understand that we are truly blessed.
Thank you, fellow truants. Check out the most recent batch of bios here.
Consider tossing 10 tax-deductible dollars at their efforts here.
Be part of our information network and share with us something you've read here, or in the comments below.
In the last two days, we had a couple of prime examples of this fact.
Jonathan Alexandratos, one of our playwrights for Chaos Under Construction, pointed us to a blog on the power and importance of chaos by theater director and Viewpoints co-creator Anne Bogart.
Here's what she says about chaos.
"We all have our boundaries and our limits of tolerance. But in order to be engaged in the artistic process, which is a form of action in the world, it is necessary to allow some degree of chaos and error into the process and into one’s perception. Can you tease out the limits of what is tolerable? Can you allow chance into the process? Can you back off controlling everything?"
We believe you can and must do these things. Jump in. Hang on. Twist and whirl in "the limits of what is tolerable." Otherwise, your work is clinical, sterile and beige.
The other example was from an old director friend, Marty Kushner, who, over a couple of beers and some pretty good jazz on the juke box at Jimmy's Corner, shared a poem by Marge Piercy called "To be of use." It dives right in with a beautiful statement of why we at Truant do the projects we do.
Here are the first lines.
The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
The people who join us in projects time and again are these very people. They see theater as their work and they jump in head first. They rehearse in dingy spaces and perform in tiny black boxes and don't get nearly enough glory or money for their efforts. But they do it anyway and they do it over and over again. They do it because it is who they are.
We do what we do because it is who they are -- the people we love best; the ones in the untilled theater fields, moving things forward and breaking sod. We at Truant are grateful that we have the chance to help them plow and play, "natives of that element."
We wish everyone the same opportunities - to play in the chaos and surround themselves with people who harness themselves to tasks bigger than themselves - but it is a rare thing in the cubicle world and we understand that we are truly blessed.
Thank you, fellow truants. Check out the most recent batch of bios here.
Consider tossing 10 tax-deductible dollars at their efforts here.
Be part of our information network and share with us something you've read here, or in the comments below.