Kwame Kwei-Armah

This morning, the second Plenary Session of the TCG conference ended with a standing ovation.  British playwright and director Kwame Kwei-Armah gave a rousing speech on "Theatre as Foreign Policy," exhorting us to make theatre that captures and evokes our communities, to transport that across the globe.  It was an inspiring talk, and also surprisingly funny - Kwame knows how to work a room - but something he said at the very beginning caught my attention, and made me think about what we're doing here.  
 
He was describing his childhood, growing up as the son of West Indian immigrants.  He told how he learned what slavery was from the "Roots" mini-series.  Explaining the power of this, he said (and this is a rough quote), "A narrative came into my life, changing my worldview, how I saw myself and the course of my life."  This is an inspiring example of the power of art, but I had to think - "Roots" isn't theatre.  "Roots" was a tv movie.  Kwame mentioned the power of August Wilson's plays, Public Enemy's music, the book The Autobiography of Malcom X.  All true examples of the power of art, its importance in shaping how we see our world, our communities, and ourselves.  But what wasn't addressed - and what often gets lost - is how theatre is different. 
 
The fact that this is a National Performing Arts convention is fantastic - arts organizations across genres share so many concerns and issues.  But so often we fall into "No one cares about the arts.  How can we make them realize they need theatre/opera/music/dance?"  This is an important concern.  But as a theatre practitioner, I also want to talk about what makes theatre different.  One Artistic Director told the assembled TCG audience that his theatre has just hired a full-time videographer and videoblogger.  I assume this is to market to and reach out to the YouTube world.  But what if, rather than reaching people differently, rather than trying to convince people that theatre is vital, we made vital theatre?  I know it's not that simple (and this Artistic Director happens to helm an institution producing exciting, new work, so they're not just hoping a videoblog will draw in new audiences to old, musty programming), but, well, it's a question that this convention has got me asking.  Which is probably a fantastic thing.  Four days isn't enough time to change the world.  But we can have our assumptions challenged, ask questions, and reassess how we look at what we do.  I'm excited to keep that going.

posted by Jaime Green, at her first performing arts conference!