Culture

On the State of Theatre at the Start of Semester Two, 2011.

Having recently returned from Melbourne, I am distressed. I saw a play, Sarajevo Suite. It was amazing, mind-altering in its simplicity and beauty. It was on at a theatre called La Mama which is an old house converted into a theatre, a la Dunedin’s Globe Theatre (located on London Street, it hasn’t been a huge hive of activity but check out Waiting for Godot there later in the year.)
 
I will not indulge in a rambling monologue about how and why Sarajevo Suite was so fantastic but I will indulge in is a short diatribe about how Dunedin could make theatre like this; theatre that affects, theatre that moves people.
 
We have the resources the talent and the space. As Is is getting there, As Is is harnessing this potential but we need more. More people, more enthusiasm and more dedication. We need to take hold of our passion for theatre and we need to make work, relevant theatre that makes a statement.
 
We need to use As Is, Allen Hall Theatre and the Globe and we need to look at our world. What do we want to say? What do we need to say? How can we say it? Who needs their voices heard? Who can we help? Most importantly why aren’t we already doing it?!

I challenge you, as theatre students, as people who engage with the world around you to talk to your friends, get together with people you would love to work with and make a statement. Pick a topic, pick a person choose a community or issue that affects you and tell the world about it!