With liberty, wherever abundance reigns, well-being also reigns. Plant a stake crowned with flowers in the middle of a square; gather the people together there, and you will have a festival. Do better yet; let the spectators become an entertainment to themselves; make them actors themselves; do it so that each sees and loves himself in the others so that all will be better united.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Letter to M. D’Alembert on the Theatre
Read this exerpt in another book I’m reading, and it brought up this thought (which may, or may not, be the original idea)… What if a community (church, neighborhood, family, group of regulars at a third place …or any other form) were to act out a play together? From something as simple as four people reading of pieces of paper… to a larger community that has created costumes and props and has memorized lines.
Of course, one of the keys is that everyone would be involved in it; no one would simply spectate. And the purpose would be to just have fun… to laugh, to create, to form relationships in a unique way.
Just a thought. Maybe it’s ridiculous, but I’m ok with that. (Many of my ideas are ridiculous).
yeah it may be a bit ridiculous, and many of your ideas are ridiculous. Sure, but that’s not a problem. It means you’re willing to push the envelope, to think thoughts that may be dumb, because when you do that you innovate. That’s why you’re a cool dude. So the fact you think up some crazy stuff is a good thing.
but Tim…reading a play together? you really need to get out of LA
that’s just ridiculous
I dream of a church where the spectators become an entertainment to themselves.
[...] I dream of a church in which art and creativity are profoundly valued and used. I’ve had a few thoughts on this before: Creating Drama in the Church (the good kind); Let the Spectators Become an Entertainment to Themselves. [...]