"And finally, above all else, it is about leaving a mark that I existed: I was here. I was hungry. I was defeated. I was happy. I was sad. I was in love. I was afraid. I was hopeful. I had an idea and had a good purpose and that is why I made art.”
-Felix Gonzalez-Torres
29.11.13
22.11.13
(Posted by Stormie)
FROM THE DIRECTOR:
Life is too complicated for our minds. Our minds are too complicated for our minds. Individual consciousness, that beautiful mystery, quickly buckles under the weight of it’s own overwhelming drive to figure everything out. To make it all fit. To accomplish certainty. The mind caves in—because no matter how long we think about it, no matter how much we read, no matter how strongly we feel, we really can’t know what it’s going to be like to die. Old or young, hard skeptic or hard believer, we can’t know. We can have all sorts of ideas. Some of them will probably be closer to the truth than others. But all we know for sure in this life is that we exist and that we don’t know anything else for sure. That’s where we all have to agree. Those thoughts can be freeing, if we experience grace through them. We can move forward in faith. But without grace, uncertainty is paralyzing. The mind curls in on itself. The weight of insignificance presses in. Fear eats the will. With enough pressure, the spirit can snap.
So we’re performing Hamlet. What good is there in that? A university is a community dedicated to thinking through ultimate questions in all their various applications, and this play certainly fits in with that program. Is that it? Another thing to think through? Live theater is a unique medium. It shares characteristics with literature and film but remains distinct. Reading a play or watching a performance captured on film each has its own unique benefits, but they are not the benefits of live theater. Here, performers incarnate characters and situations in real time with the audience. It is a kind of ritual. It must be experienced in the present. We’re living at a time when experience is more often mediated by technology than taken in the present with our full human faculties. Technology is good, but we can’t let it be the end of presence. We need to force ourselves to be aware of the fact that we exist, here, right now. This awareness is essential to theater. Be alive to the beautiful absurdity of it all. Many good things are only understood well through experience. What does it mean to be alive? Live with us for a few hours, and we'll try to learn something together. Live with Shakespeare and Hamlet. Life is too complicated for our minds to capture—cosmic, microscopic, subatomic; growing and decaying, consuming and loving—and thank God for that. We can live in grace. - Aaron Young Smith
FROM THE DIRECTOR:
Life is too complicated for our minds. Our minds are too complicated for our minds. Individual consciousness, that beautiful mystery, quickly buckles under the weight of it’s own overwhelming drive to figure everything out. To make it all fit. To accomplish certainty. The mind caves in—because no matter how long we think about it, no matter how much we read, no matter how strongly we feel, we really can’t know what it’s going to be like to die. Old or young, hard skeptic or hard believer, we can’t know. We can have all sorts of ideas. Some of them will probably be closer to the truth than others. But all we know for sure in this life is that we exist and that we don’t know anything else for sure. That’s where we all have to agree. Those thoughts can be freeing, if we experience grace through them. We can move forward in faith. But without grace, uncertainty is paralyzing. The mind curls in on itself. The weight of insignificance presses in. Fear eats the will. With enough pressure, the spirit can snap.
So we’re performing Hamlet. What good is there in that? A university is a community dedicated to thinking through ultimate questions in all their various applications, and this play certainly fits in with that program. Is that it? Another thing to think through? Live theater is a unique medium. It shares characteristics with literature and film but remains distinct. Reading a play or watching a performance captured on film each has its own unique benefits, but they are not the benefits of live theater. Here, performers incarnate characters and situations in real time with the audience. It is a kind of ritual. It must be experienced in the present. We’re living at a time when experience is more often mediated by technology than taken in the present with our full human faculties. Technology is good, but we can’t let it be the end of presence. We need to force ourselves to be aware of the fact that we exist, here, right now. This awareness is essential to theater. Be alive to the beautiful absurdity of it all. Many good things are only understood well through experience. What does it mean to be alive? Live with us for a few hours, and we'll try to learn something together. Live with Shakespeare and Hamlet. Life is too complicated for our minds to capture—cosmic, microscopic, subatomic; growing and decaying, consuming and loving—and thank God for that. We can live in grace. - Aaron Young Smith
15.11.13
13.11.13
"2013 has been quite a year and there is still a month and a half left! I've been thinking of past and new resolutions. I love the concept of a 'year' so we can somewhat observe happenings and growth within a time frame. I feel as though 2014 will be a very solid year and one can't deny what is felt through one's bones. Not to say "bring it on '14", but rather open my arms with warmth and welcome."
November 13th 2013
November 13th 2013
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