Guerrilla Theatre
This piece advocates for making guerilla, anti-capitalist theatre. It gives a short anti-capitalist community manifesto, and lays out the significant aspects of guerilla theatre: Personnel, programme, place, and public. Which refers to, in other words, collaborators, form, location, and audience.
Key points/Takeaways:
1.) Theatre should be made for people similar to those who made it. The best people to talk to are those you understand and the only way to change people is to show them you are of them.
2.) Capitalism is rooted in the (false) concept of private property. The idea of personal ownership removes the possibility of sharing and a community mindset.
3.) Regardless of style, the form must resonate with the experiences of the creators. Don't create something no one knows about.
4.) Within the community a piece of theatre is made, the words should express collective truths and things that must be said even if they've been silent. The theatre should reflect the existing community, not fight against it.
5.) You cannot own an idea. They are for sharing only.
Letter, August 1936
This is an extract from a letter written by Felicia Browne. In it, she very succinctly assesses what art's place in the world is to her- specifically, she makes art only when it is valid and urgent. She rebukes whomever she is responding to, telling them that she is not making art because at the time of writing, the revolution is her foremost priority.
Key points/Takeaways:
1.) To Felicia, art comes from a place of urgency. It only happens when it must. This is worth considering within the institution of Calarts, as often art is made without answering the question, "why?" While we may all have our personal answers, it's important to at least consider where the art being made is coming from.
2.) For artists, there is only so much energy to go around. This means sometimes art cannot be made when other things must come first.
3.) There exists a hierarchy of needs, and artists should identify where their practice falls in their personal ranking. Does food come before art? Shelter? Love? Freedom? Justice? Comfort?
4.) One must question whether their art is valid to make. If the validity of a work is in question, the energy on it might be better spent elsewhere.
5.) Sometimes, what art is trying to do is better achieved through direct action. Sometimes direct action and art are incompatible, and the most important thing is fighting.
This piece advocates for making guerilla, anti-capitalist theatre. It gives a short anti-capitalist community manifesto, and lays out the significant aspects of guerilla theatre: Personnel, programme, place, and public. Which refers to, in other words, collaborators, form, location, and audience.
Key points/Takeaways:
1.) Theatre should be made for people similar to those who made it. The best people to talk to are those you understand and the only way to change people is to show them you are of them.
2.) Capitalism is rooted in the (false) concept of private property. The idea of personal ownership removes the possibility of sharing and a community mindset.
3.) Regardless of style, the form must resonate with the experiences of the creators. Don't create something no one knows about.
4.) Within the community a piece of theatre is made, the words should express collective truths and things that must be said even if they've been silent. The theatre should reflect the existing community, not fight against it.
5.) You cannot own an idea. They are for sharing only.
Letter, August 1936
This is an extract from a letter written by Felicia Browne. In it, she very succinctly assesses what art's place in the world is to her- specifically, she makes art only when it is valid and urgent. She rebukes whomever she is responding to, telling them that she is not making art because at the time of writing, the revolution is her foremost priority.
Key points/Takeaways:
1.) To Felicia, art comes from a place of urgency. It only happens when it must. This is worth considering within the institution of Calarts, as often art is made without answering the question, "why?" While we may all have our personal answers, it's important to at least consider where the art being made is coming from.
2.) For artists, there is only so much energy to go around. This means sometimes art cannot be made when other things must come first.
3.) There exists a hierarchy of needs, and artists should identify where their practice falls in their personal ranking. Does food come before art? Shelter? Love? Freedom? Justice? Comfort?
4.) One must question whether their art is valid to make. If the validity of a work is in question, the energy on it might be better spent elsewhere.
5.) Sometimes, what art is trying to do is better achieved through direct action. Sometimes direct action and art are incompatible, and the most important thing is fighting.
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