Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1993 - 16

um of hisrof)' rhar provide a background
for each of us and for our lives. They are
a unique link berween us and pasr generarions, berween us and furure generanons.
Grear plays resonare because rhey
grasp rhe universal humaniry in each of
us. Isn'r rhis, afrer all, srill rhe world of
Sophocles: "Grief reaches rhe sreadiesr
minds ro waiver." And rhe world of
Shakespeare's so rragically fallible Lear:

become selfish of rime-wanring ro
spend ir, nor ro wasre ir, wanring ro be a
pan of people and evenrs rhar give me a
sense of life and irs possibiliries.
In a rime when rhe veneer of civilizarion is falling away in so many places, rhe
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1993 SUMMER

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ans can be a mirror for me soul. Thearre
provides a conrexr for undersranding
ourselves and our world. Ir provides a
respire from rhe chaos and fear rhar
appear ro be engulfing us each rime we
lisren ro rhe news or read a newspaper. Ir
provides a haven for us ro share rhe
aspecrs of life common ro all men and
women. To laugh, ro mourn, ro celebrare, ro rhink, ro be disrurbed, ro feel. Ir
should be a rourine pan of our lives and
our neighbors' lives and our children's
lives. In a world rhar so consranrly seems
our of connol, fragmenred beyond repair,
enduring images of humaniry-of ourselves, of our lives-can lead ro momenrs
of enlighrenmenr and connecrion ro orhers.
In his book The Shape ofContent, rhe
anisr Ben Shahn wrore, "Ir is rhe images
we hold in common ... rhar have creared
rhe human communi f)' ... and imbued ir
wirh value." Our job is ro caprure on
srage rhe universal, rimeless aspecrs of
human life rhar make man man. The
wrinen word is flar. The screen is flar and
disrons life by eirher diminishing or
enlarging ir. Only rhe srage has a rruly
human proponion rhar says, "We are
you, you are us. You are nor alone."
The human spirir ponrayed on rhe
srage has nor changed since rhe advenr of
man because rhearre is roored in rhe realiry of human narure. The need for love,
rhe need for respecr, rhe need for producrive work, and rhe need ro know rhar we
maner, rhar our lives make a difference,
all bridge rime and narional boundaries.
Theane requires rhe courage ro look forward and backward while being grounded in rhe presenL Classics and plays
abour ro become classics are rhe conrinu-

Poor naked wrerches, wheresoe'er
you are,
Thar bide rhe pel ring of rhis piriless srorm,
How shall your houseless heads
and underfed sides,
Your [oop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as rhese?
Visir any srreer in any American ciry
roday ro see how alive Lear's words are.
And of Augusr Wilson's Ma Rainey:
Ir sure done gor quier in here. I
never could srand no silence. I
always gor ro have some music
going on in my head somewhere. Ir
keeps rhings balanced. Music will
do rhar. Ir fills rhings up. The more
music you gor in rhe world, rhe
fuller ir is ... You don'r sing ro feel
bener. You sing cause rhar's a way
of undemanding life.
An has always been a buffer berween
man and rhe despair he has encounrered
in his anemprs ro undersrand life. Years
ago I became haunred by rhe srory of a
group of children who had pur bunerflies on rhe walls of a concenrrarion
camp. Even in hell rhese children found
grace, found a way ro be free rhrough
arrirude and an. Those burrerflies are
sri II rhere-on rhose walls. Those children, rhose burrerflies are srill rhere in a
play wrirren abour rheir experience,
bringing rhis experience ro rhousands of
orhers.
Their an inspired an. Ir will conrinue
ro echo rheir srory long afrer rhey are
dead, moving us in profound ways ro

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1993