Practical knowledge is power.  I am part terrified and part elated to be acquiring so much useful information.  In this day where there is so much information available, most information cancels itself out.  Our readings and discussions in this class are 110% applicable to the work that I am doing now and the work I want to do.  I don’t want to skim anything, in fear of missing a jewel that will unlock a curiosity I didn’t know I had.  In collecting the tools of a community cultural developer, the pressure of responsibility builds.  As I had voiced in-class, I feel overwhelmed.  I am fortunate to be given access to this information, and to be in a safe room to pick and pry it open with a supportive collective.  Am I the right  person to be telling the story I want to tell?  Side stepping this question, how do I do it right?  Right for the community I am exposing/ promoting.   I hear and see examples of exemplary work from our readings and shared experiences.  I aspire to learn from those who came before and do justice to my time and place.

I am very thankful for the texts we’ve read in that I have field guides to reference for the rest of my professional career, and concepts to ponder to the ends of time.  I asked Bill Rauch of Oregon Shakespeare Festival, “How do you balance truth with theatricality?”  This is in reference to making new theater.  Bill responded with, “In that you are asking the question, know you care.  That’s good.  Don’t worry about caring anymore, it will be there with you along the whole process.  Make the work with the community you are exploring and invite them in and listen to them.  Listen to them a lot.”  What do people think?  With the privilege of knowledge do you feel greater responsibility?

I am a theater director, which means I am a story teller.  I am greatly concerned about the balance between truth and theatricality.  I want to make art that is artistically stunning and equally grounded in truth.  I also believe that being a trained artist is a privilege.  With that privilege comes responsibility to respond to my current time and place through my medium of theater.  I don’t identify as an activist, but see my work as community cultural development.  I look to my community to ask; what do we care about?  What do we fear?  What are our questions and curiosities right now?  I am a facilitator constructing a platform to project these concerns.

I am terrified of misrepresentation.  I never want the story of my project to be associated with exploitation, appropriation or misinformation.  I want the community perspective that I am sharing to be rooted in the truth of that community to where members feel that they are accurately represented.  Learning the tools of inviting, collaborating, and active listening will help me grasp with more authenticity the stories of my community.  With authenticity, I can more accurately stand by my stories and promote conversation throughout my community.